Business Post Contributor
By FBNQuest
There is no doubt that the joy of parenting beats the responsibility of raising children. However, poor planning can make this obligation harder than it needs to be.
Planning for your child’s future can be expensive. Paying for necessities, school fees, hobbies, family vacations, and unexpected events in life quickly adds up.
If you are a parent, then these expenses are either in your present or your future. Putting a child through formal education often represents regular rising fee payments over about 16 years if they enrol in a tertiary institution.
To limit the stress related to financing your child or children’s education, it is best to start planning for it early. An Education Trust provides an innovative and efficient way to do this.
Rising tuition prices could mean that many families struggle to afford their children’s secondary and higher education without borrowing money or taking out loans. In addition, to relieve future stress, creating an Education Trust for your child presents a vehicle into which family members, guardians and close friends who would like to support a child can make their contributions.
An Education Trust is overseen by a Trustee, who can ensure that the Trust is used for educational purposes only. Through the Trust instrument, the Trustee can be directed to handle the funds in virtually any manner you wish as the creator of the Trust.
In addition to addressing costs associated with a beneficiary’s education, the Trust could specify periodic payments of set amounts to the beneficiary and prescribe the usage of the Trust’s assets upon the completion of the beneficiary’s education. They may also be designed to provide for children that you may have in the future. Education Trusts can be operational immediately or upon the demise of the creator of the Trust.
Contemplating financing your child’s future education while catering to your current financial obligations need not be a hassle, there are several options for how your own financial and physical assets can be incorporated into an Education Trust.
FBNQuest Trustees can guide you through creating an Education Trust for your loved ones to make life easier for you as a parent and for the children/ward.
We are happy to advise you on how to combine assets that you own now with those you will earn in the future into an Education Trust that caters to the needs of the beneficiaries in line with your wishes.
