Graduation A Time Of Financial Change For The Whole Family

Early summer is the time of great changes in every family’s life. As the school year comes to an end, students will be graduating from university, college, high school or elementary school. This change not only affects the students; it certainly affects the parents as well. With children moving to a next phase in their life, there is also a new chapter in financial challenges to be faced by the whole family.

While some of those challenges may seem far in the distance, they will be on your doorstep sooner than you think. One specific challenge for those pursuing post-secondary education, may be funding tuition and living expenses. Another challenge may be students trying to find a part-time job to fund the expenses that come with being more independent such as a vehicle, clothing and entertainment. In the meantime, more often than not, parents are funding the expenses of the child.

This is where we focus on the parents. As a parent, are you considering the impact of continuing education on your finances? Will you be subsidizing your child’s lifestyle? If so, will you need to borrow to keep up? If you need to borrow, what is your plan to repay the debt?

The answers to these questions involve planning ahead. Know your limitations. Without a comprehensive budget in place, you may end up taking on more debt than you can handle and paying only the interest resulting in debt that never goes away. If you continue to subsidize your child’s lifestyle without educating them on how to become financially independent, your debt load will only keep growing. If your plan involves the words “someday”, “hopefully it will get better” or “eventually”, then it isn’t a plan. Your plan should be specific as to why be you borrowing, how much the limit is to borrow and exactly when and how your debt will be paid.

Controlling your debt and involving your children in the process can help them achieve financial literacy, preparing the whole family for a debt-free future.

If your debt is growing as your children continue on in their education or your struggling to get it back under control due to other uncontrolled circumstances, your local Licensed Insolvency Trustee can advise you on what options are available to you so you can move forward and get back on track with life-changing debt solutions.