Children’s activities are often costly: financial forward planning helps
According to an article published in September 2011, one of the modern dilemmas for families is budgeting for lifestyle funding. Sonja Koremans authored this article and posted it in news.com.au. Funding children’s extra curricular activities was found to be an issue.
Some extracts from that article, follow –
“Many households are forsaking financial security and family well-being by taking out loans and running up credit cards to pay for the schedules of their overbooked offspring.…a recent survey (in the UK) found that the cost of sporting and cultural activities for children has risen by 67 per cent over the past decade, double the rate of inflation in the same period… ‘
[Note. Whist there is less research for figures in Australia, the constant cost increases are obvious. The cost of raising a child in ‘middle class’ Australia was around $750,000 in 2017. That figure covered from childhood to early twenties.]
‘ …when it comes to things that affect us emotionally, we’re usually prepared to pay a hefty premium for goods and services. And there is nothing that hits our emotions harder than parent guilt..”
Planning such lifestyle funding is imperative
If families are going to encourage their children to undertake such activities, they need to prepare for their ever-increasing costs. At Continuum Financial Planners Pty Ltd, we strongly encourage an early start to accumulation of funding for them. A similar strategy to a children’s education fund is available in this situation.
In our Library article ‘Regular Saving aids Investment success’ we demonstrated that an early start to savings has benefits. In that article, we disclose that –
- starting savings programs earlier,
- the less the financial commitment we need to make on a regular basis – and
- the more manageable the process.
A couple of strategies available include –
- regular savings (possibly even lightly-geared); or
- specific purpose insurance bonds.
Budgeting for lifestyle funding is a core wealth management activity
To ensure you are adequately able to cope with these costs at the appropriate time, seek advice from your Continuum Financial Planners adviser. To arrange an appointment with them –
- phone our office on (07) 3421 3456; or
- at your convenience, use the linked Make A Booking facility.
(This article was first published by us in September 2011. It has occasionally been refreshed/ updated, most recently in January 2025.)
