Life Journey Series – Paying for Private School Fees

Kids, they are like having a little broke best friend who thinks you’re rich. They are always getting you to pay for everything, never paying you back, constantly trashing the house and when you say no, they just look at you with either sad puppy eyes or with the hatred and burning intensity of a thousand suns. Either way, you’ll probably cave.

You give them life, constant love, pay for all their stuff and just hope they don’t roll you into a nursing home at the first possible chance. No matter what happens though, we always want the best for our kids and hope they succeed in life.

A tried and tested way to help them succeed is to make sure they get a good education.

Private vs public. You’ve made the decision to go private but what’s the cost?

Paying for a private education is going to be a significant financial investment for you and your partner. Fee’s can vary greatly depending on schools and geographical location. But the average cost of primary and secondary education for one child will be in the ballpark of $4-500,000. Boom. That’s a chunk of change.

So, you’re going to have to do some planning – what schools can you afford, when do you want to send them (just secondary?)

You also might want to ask yourself some tough questions. Like, is this worth it? This is far from a safe investment. What if your child decides later to go down a different path later in life and wants to learn a trade or go to a technical college?

Prioritise – what’s the compromise to pay for this and do you want it enough for your children to stick with the decision?

A few extra hundred thousand dollars for retirement does sound nice. Maybe an amazing family holiday each year? There are also other ways to use that money to help your children. Set up a savings account to pay for their university, start investing for them and give them incentives to work their ass off at the public school (Which will be waaaaay cheaper than private schools).

‘Don’t talk to me about the numbers’

Ok, ok, you’ve heard enough about public schools to put you off and you’re willing to spend whatever it takes to give your child the best possible head start in life. Let’s face it, it’s not just an education your kids are getting. Their teachers, friends and everyday experiences will shape their personality and mould them into the fully functioning adults (you hope) they become.

Two words – Plan Ahead

There are a number of investment strategies that you can use to make the strain of paying for your child’s education a lot more manageable, but that processes needs to begin now. Speak to us at Visia as soon as possible. We have clients that have been saving up for their kid’s education before they were even born!

Kora Drage is an Authorised Representative of Financial Wisdom Limited ABN 70 006 646 108, AFSL 231138. The information contained in this article may contain general advice. It does not take into account your financial circumstances and objectives. You should consider talking to a financial adviser and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before making a financial decision. Any views and opinions provided in this article may not reflect the views and opinions of Financial Wisdom Limited.