As any of you with young children will know, Children’s Allowance is paid monthly and the amount varies depending on the amount of children one has.  It will not make any of us rich but it is welcome, and for many, a crucial help in assisting in the cost of bringing up children. Of course they are priceless to us, but nonetheless we can’t get away from the fact that children cost a lot of money!!!  At every single stage! From nappies, to primary school and beyond, there are a multitude of costs from their basic needs (food, clothing etc) to their activities and most importantly school and further education.

So where does your Children’s Allowance go?

Our many clients vary in what they allocate their Children’s Allowance too. As I’ve mentioned many find it crucial in being able to meet ongoing expenses.  However in honesty, a lot of clients, have every good intention of putting some if not all of their Children’s Allowance away into a savings account/long term investment for their children’s long term needs and education purposes and whilst intentions are good, it simply has not happened.  Life is busy and it can seem like a daunting task that we can quite get around to.

We always review long term savings plans with our clients once we know they have young children.   We  ascertain if they really can afford to put it away & if they can, implement a plan of action to do so.

If you feel you have not given the idea enough consideration, and have simply not focused on saving some of it for the long term, perhaps get it paid into a different account than your current account, where it won’t be so easy to touch.  If this works well and you see you are comfortable without all or some of it (and have an emergency fund already) then it may be time to seriously look at a long term savings option (assuming you have the time to do so), investing in a unit linked savings plan (with a range of assets namely equities (shares), property, bonds and deposits).

It is necessary, at some stage, to try to save for our Children’s Education.  It is costly and is due to become even more so.

The Dublin Institute of Technology prepare a Guide every year for students to inform them of the cost of their third level education.

The Dublin Institute of Technology’s annual cost-of-living guide shows that rent is now the single biggest cost for students living away from home. For students who live at home, the estimated annual cost of colleges this year will reach just over €6,800. The bulk of this cost includes the €3,000 student registration charges.

If we assume the DIT figure of €11,000 a year, over a 4 year period (a typical Degree program), that equates to €44,000 per child. Add 2/3 children to the mix and you are looking at a fund of €88,000/€132,000 to save towards. These figures are of course based on average college fees applicable presently and these may change in the future.

If you require any advice in this regard, please contact us at 053 9233640.

This is an opinion only and does not constitute advice as individual circumstances will determine all financial advise given.