Education Savings Plans

Sometimes I ponder the future and it wipes me out. Do you know what I'm getting at here? Just think of all those expenses that you've yet to cover. Here, I'll name a few to put things into perspective. There's the house, unless you've paid it off; there's always some vehicle because we end up switching; there's credit card debt and possibly past loans; there's retirement; and finally, if you have children there are education savings plans to think about.

Now that feels like a ton of bricks smacking you in the face, doesn't it? Hey, I never said you were going to like where I was going with this. I merely wanted to offer some valid food for thought. After all, we need to really budget and plan ahead of time to deal with these routine life expenses. Do you have a plan in motion?

I have a daughter who is about to start college this winter quarter and a seven year old who has a ways to go yet. Unfortunately the older one has tuition due this Friday. Talk about a reality check. Did I think out education savings plans many years ago? Of course not! That would have put me too far ahead of the game. And let's face it, being prepared and stress-free is simply not the American way. So now I have to come up with a fat amount of tuition cash ASAP. Not a fun thing to do, by the way. This is a perfect example why you should not follow suit. Avoid this entire issue by starting education savings plans for your children far in advance. It really isn't brain surgery. Let me offer a simple example. You start a savings account for each child. If you have only one, then that's even easier. Place a portion of money, whatever you can handle, in their savings accounts each pay period. You can even have your bank do this for you so that you won't have to deal with it routinely. This money will really start to build as the years pass by. By the time your child hits college, he/she will have a nice nest-egg waiting to assist financially.

I won't make the same mistake twice. With my second daughter, I will revert to the education savings plans. We just set up her savings account and things are now put in motion. At least I learned something the first time around.