This is a collaborative post.
Every parent spends time thinking about their child’s future, often late at night when the house is quiet and thoughts can wander. It’s a big world out there and, of course, we want our children to fit well within it, no matter how they turn out or what their preferences may be.
It’s pretty natural to wonder if we’re doing enough, saving enough, or preparing them well enough for what’s ahead. The hard truth is that you can’t protect them from every tough event, and some lessons they just have to learn on their own. The good news is that you don’t need to have everything figured out right now – planning for your child’s future works best as a gradual process that grows alongside them too. So don’t beat yourself up about it.
Reasonable parents feel quite worried by the idea of mapping out decades of their child’s life, because we know that in our own lives, things don’t always go 100% to plan. But that’s perfectly fine – the goal isn’t to script every moment of their future (that would be even worse) but rather to lay down some helpful foundations. Let’s see what that can do:
Financial Building Blocks
You don’t have to pass down millions of course, but you can start with small, manageable steps to help them. Perhaps that means setting up a dedicated savings account and adding what you can each month, even if it’s just a tiny amount. Perhaps it could help them buy their first car. Some parents also choose to put birthday money or holiday gifts into long-term savings, while others prefer setting up more formal education funds. If you haven’t already, putting together a robust will with clear intentions is important too, perhaps even arranging pre-paid funeral plans (for ourselves) at a certain age, because unfortunately none of us can predict how life will go. Having contingencies in place gives you great peace of mind.
Educational Foundations
Education goes far beyond just saving for college of course. Now, your child doesn’t need to go far in official educational environments to do well or be a good person. But it can help to agave the option there. Think about the skills and experiences that might benefit your child as they grow, such as enrolling them in language classes if you notice an interest, or perhaps letting them try different sports or creative activities like playing the guitar. Watch for what motivates them try to set up the basic plan, and keep in mind that sometimes the best educational investments aren’t the ones we originally assumed.
Life Skills Development
It’s not just about schooling of course. Little life skills can be a great way to hand down your own knowledge. Teaching them about money management, decision-making, and emotional intelligence isn’t a bad place to start. Arguably, that can provide a foundation for whatever path they choose. Share your own experiences and struggles, it’ll help them learn how to move forward like you did. From there you can let them make age-appropriate choices, and talk through problems together, which builds trust too. It’ll show that if they try, there’s nothing they can’t put their mind to and achieve.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily prepare your child for this strange, wonderful thing called life.
