Are you ready for education inflation? Stop ignoring insurance salesmen. It’s about that time to educate yourself and take charge of your future by saving.
At the beginning of every school year, most Kenyan parents are flustered lot. On the very week that schools open, banking halls and supermarkets are jam-packed with stressed parents making payments to respective schools and throwing in some last minute shopping. Other parents are at their children’s schools trying to arrange to pay the fee over a period of time. Thankfully some schools have flexible modes of payments. Even luckier are the parents with an education plan in place and those saving for their munchkins.
Like most Kenyans I was quite skeptical about education plans and would feign phone calls whenever I met someone who wanted to talk to me about a plan for my children. Yes, I actually did.
That was until I met Joel and his sister Maria, both students at one of the private universities and in their early twenties. They both plan to pursue their education up to the Masters level, and Maria who has her hopes set on a career in academia will be getting her doctorate before she is 27-years-old! Thanks to the education plan their mother put in place for them while they were still quite young, they can both pursue their studies without worrying about where the money will come from.
They get wistful when they talk about their mother. She was a career civil servant who passed away a few years back when they were in High School. Joel likes to say his mother’s ndengu curry and chapatis were the best. In Kenya today, an undergraduate degree at any of the private universities will set you back at least Ksh. 750,000 for a 3-year course; and this does not include accommodation and other living expenses.
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An education plan allows you to start building a nest egg for your child’s education gradually without any pressure.
Most insurance companies will have an education plan of some sort with flexible means of making payments. Having a plan in place will allow you to take control of your finances and help you turn your vision regarding your child’s future, into a reality.
The cost of education is rising annually and what now costs Ksh 750,000 will in a few years cost you Ksh 1 million. Experts say education inflation is one of the things we will have to accept as a reality, especially in a growing economy such as ours. Start by having a realistic look at how much you spend as a household and how much you have available to invest in an education plan, then start looking around at the education plans available in the market.
Children start stating what they hope to become at an early age, listen and then look around at the available options. It may be your daughter wants to become an aeronautical engineer, doctor or pursue a career in academics.
Your child may even want to pursue their studies at Harvard, IT or Stanford or any of our local universities.
Look at how much putting your child through any of these institutions will cost and make a decision that would be the best fit for them. Be sure to factor in the rate of inflation, which would be anything from 9-12% for every year; now you have a rough idea of what you are likely to spend on their education. You will be surprised that what at first looks like an insurmountable amount, with an education plan in place will be very easy to implement. Parenting is challenging and demands of our time and effort, to raise children into responsible adults who will one day raise families of their own is no easy task, but it can be made easier by having a financial plan in place for your children’s education.
Setting up an education plan while the kids are still young and your financial demands are few is a way of protecting your child’s future and your future as well.
Find out more about protecting your future from Metropolitan Cannon.