Family Budgets When Choosing a College
The grueling grade school years have finally come to an end and colleges are showing interest in your child. This is an exciting time for both children and parents alike, but paying for college can be a huge chunk of your family budget. Before helping your child decide which university or college they want to attend, review these five tips from the Wall Street Journal to save you time and money.
- Choose the career first, then the school
- Don’t promise to pay the whole tuition
- Make your child responsible for more expensive school options
- Set goals for their education
- Protect their future health and finances
Going to college isn’t a time to test everything out and decide on a career. Sit down and look at your child’s strengths and weaknesses and make a career choose that caters to their best subjects and interests. It can sometimes be a challenge to determine a career path at so young an age, but if the choice is obvious help your child make a decision that will help save them time and money in college.
If you make the promise and are unable to keep it due to changes in your family income, that put stress on your relationship. Instead, set a limit to how much you feel comfortable spending and take out loans for the rest. After all, this is an investment in your child’s future and not a permanent expense on your family budget.
When choosing between in-state public schools or out-of-state private schools, set a limit to what you will pay when family budgeting. This will make the child feel more ownership of their education and make a more informed choice on their school. If you promise to pay the first three years and they will responsible for the fourth (or more); it will set the financial expectations before the first day of classes begin.
Setting expectations for a child’s performance is a good way to not only get them to go to class, but to prepare them for the real world. If college is their first job, they are evaluated on their performance by what they receive as their GPA and if they don’t do their job, they get fired. Keeping tabs on them will make sure they are not wasting your money coming out of your family budget.
Once your child turns 18 you no longer have access to their health records or make medical or financial decisions for them. Set up a plan, including “a health-care directive, a HIPAA release and power of attorney” according to Laura Mattia of Fair Lawn, N.J., a certified financial planner. This allow you to make decisions for your child in case of an emergency.
