Being a parent is one of the greatest gifts I have received in my life. But over the past two years I have also noticed the increase in our spending, and we have not yet even hit school or the teenage years. I know from working on education plans for my advice clients how much can be spent on giving our children the best start in life that we can.
Australian Scholarships Group (ASG) have just released an online calculator designed to help parents estimate the future costs of their children’s secondary school education. They claim it is based on extensive research of costs in addition to school fees. You can also select to calculate for different categories of school and differentiate based on your state of residence.
You may also be interested to read this more detailed research report from AMP & NATSEM, which examines the total cost of raising children. AMP & NATSEM Report – The Cost of Raising Children (Oct 2002) Note that the figures are based on values in 2002 and should be indexed for inflation.
(Please note that Australian Scholarships Group also offer education savings plan products – this post is NOT a recommendation for their product nor a recommendation for ‘education bond’ class of products . There are many different ways to save for your children’s education and you should explore them with your adviser.)