Funding Children Education with Ease

It has been one week since most primary and secondary school students resumed back to school. Parents may not admit openly but it is usually a stressful period for them financially . This is beginning of a new sessions so you get to pay for new books, uniforms etc. aside from the tuition fees. The matter is made worse by the fact most parents are forced to enroll their kids in private schools, in order to ensure their kids are not educationally disadvantaged in any way. Quite a number of parents literally have to borrow to keep their kids in decent schools.

This was the line of discussion with my friend, Mohammed earlier in the week. We touched on the effects of the broken public school system and why one’s kids must not be exposed to such risks. Then he mentioned that his children will all have their university education abroad. In my mind , I wondered how a mid-level banker could afford such expenditure, knowing the dynamics of exchange rate in Nigeria at the moment.

 

Two days after this conversation , we got discussing real estate investments and he mentioned an investment in three plots of land he made about twelve years ago. According to him, he bought three plots so that he could use the sales proceeds to finance his kids university education as they gain admission in the future. His eldest daughter is now in SS3 and the remaining two kids still have about 2-3 years to get to SSS3.

 

The plots are located at an area called Arepo in Ogun state, which is strategically located in the outskirts of Lagos by the Lagos/Ibadan expressway. So you could drive straight through the expressway to third mainland bridge and get to Victoria Island/Lekki axis. He told me he bought the three plots for a total of N2 million Naira but each plot now sells for at least N20million. It was then I realized he wasn’t making empty boasts about his kids schooling abroad.

 

His income today may not be able to afford a foreign undergraduate education, but his investments could do it without hassles . This clearly shows the importance of Financial planning, which requires us to clearly define our goals and the type of investments we need to make today to achieve them. The goals may include children education, wedding, retirement, vacations and even inheritance for future generations

 

In Mohammed’s case it was real estate, other people have achieved the same objective with Stocks, Bonds, Treasury Bills, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies e.t.c. Each option has its own risk and reward dynamics, therefore it is absolutely recommended to sit down with experts to know what is suitable for each individual. People have lost heavy investment in land to fraudsters and land grabbers. Others have lost money to the stock market as all asset types have their banana peels, but losses can be avoided through proper guidance.

 

Everyone wants to invest but many people are wary of the inherent risks. The truth is that risk and reward are like conjoined twins that share one heart. You can not really separate them, but you can always manage the risks once you know the risk drivers. This is the only way we can have a working financial plan that gives us that peace of mind at the end of the day.

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Money Map Academy

A finance literacy organization, that helps entrepreneurs and business professionals struggling with their finances, so they can move from broke to more than enough.

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