When you become a parent you start to see things a little differently, your perspective shifts and you suddenly become very aware of the future. No longer just your future but the future of the entire family, a future that you feel compelled to protect and secure. To help you in doing this here are some steps you can take to help protect your family’s future.
Invest in your children, financially
Families the world over are feeling the increased cost of living, a cost that is only likely to climb higher as your children enter adulthood. Growing children may have aspirations to attend college, will want their own car, smartphones, and even look to put a deposit down on their own property one day. One of the best ways you can help them to achieve these life goals is to start saving early. Put away a bit of money each month for their future. There is no harm in starting the college fund at birth. if they don’t intend to use it for college then save it for that deposit. You do not have to save a huge amount each month, just whatever you can reasonably work into your budget. Even a little bit over 18 years can amount to a lot or at least something that you (and they) will be grateful for in years to come.
Invest in your children, emotionally
Children do not just need your money they need your time and attention. Of course, your career and the earnings you derive from it are important but so are your relationships with your children. Try to invest a bit of time each week to spend with and connect with your children, to talk with them, play with them or just simply be together on the school run or at dinner. Showing your love for your children by way of your time is a great way to build their confidence and allow them to feel loved and secure both now and in their future.
Legal matters and estate planning
Family life is not immune from the law in fact there are legal solutions available to help protect all family members either individually or collectively. It may be that you are the financial provider and an injury has prevented you from earning, an attorney may be able to help you with this. It may be that you need to prepare for the future in terms of estate planning and medical or financial power of attorney decisions. Again, legal teams will be able to assist you with these and ensure all the necessary legal action is taken to legally protect all of your assets and important decision-making powers for years to come.
Plan a contingency fund
When it comes to financial planning for your family’s security this should not just be limited to future retirement days. Financial planning should include the here and now and can be done regardless of your financial position. A great way to help protect your family’s short-term future is to have a contingency fund, a fund that represents around six months expenditure or six months earnings. You should also be able to access this money as and when you need it, so avoid tying it up in investments. You never know when a crisis might hit and the financial impact that it could have. A contingency fund will be there to act as a cushion and to draw upon should you be between employment, or if the roof falls in.
Be organized
There is a lot of admin that comes with family life and being on top of that admin is essential. Here are some ways in which you can be organized with your family admin:
- Create a filing system. Despite the predominantly virtual world of today, you will still have some paperwork, birth certificates, passports, property deeds for example. All of this paperwork should be securely stored and organized and you should know where it is at any given moment.
- Create a digital filing system for all those documents that do not come in a hard copy. Organize your laptop to store important digital documents that you can find with a click of a button. Financial statements, pension statements, contracts, and utilities are great examples of documents that can be provided and stored virtually and you can password protect these files for additional security.
- Retain all of your log-in details. Again, so much of your life’s admin is stored online in various different outlets all of which require log-in details. Be sure that you keep on top of all of these log-in details. If you are going to store them somewhere ensure it is a safe place and remember to practice your due diligence and utilize double factor authentication and regularly change your passwords.
