Saving for your child’s college education with students savings account

Saving is a good habit and needs to be developed early on in life as it can prove to be hugely advantageous. In this day and age, paying for the child’s education is one of the biggest challenges that parents face today. Hence, saving for the child’s future is a practical solution to the problem. College education is an expensive affair and very often people end up taking huge loans in order to fund their child’s education. This also means paying huge interest and this could cause a serious financial drain on the family’s resources. Instead, it would be a better option to save for your child’s higher education wisely.

As a first step, you must make a rough estimate of the cost of college education. Once you have the estimate in hand, you can begin by calculating the tuition fees, price of books and other material that may be required during this period. You must also consider the cost of boarding or accommodation as that is a huge expense in itself. This is absolutely essential for students who move to other states in order to complete their education. Apart from this, the students will have other expenses such as utility bills and other travel expenses etc.

There are a number of investment plans that are meant exclusively to fund your child’s college education. Since there are so many options, you can browse through them and make an informed choice. There are different federal investment plans and private investment plans these days and you can avail these in order to meet your financial needs. It is important to check these plans thoroughly before investing. Always opt for federal investment plans that offer a tax free benefit. This does not mean that every tax-free investment plan will work. 529 education plans are a great option for students as it carries a number of benefits.

In case you feel that a single plan may be insufficient to cover the education costs, you could opt for multiple investment plans. However, you must check the individual clauses and ensure that these are applicable in the state you reside in. Using different plans to save money will help you raise money as and when it is required, but you must make sure that these investments are well within your budget. Select a plan that is easily affordable and one that will offer maximum benefits as well.

The cost of education is steadily on the rise and it is likely to go up in the future as well. Hence, it is not always possible for parents to fund all the education-related expenses. Under such circumstances, it is important to encourage your child to get into the habit of earning through part-time jobs and saving some money for college expenses. This will not only ease the burden on the parents, but will also help in making the child more responsible. Student’s savings accounts are a huge boon as it will certainly ease the financial burden to a large extent.