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Your priorities can shift the moment you become a parent. Suddenly, all of your willpower is bent on ensuring that your kids live well and happily.
Still, the future is becoming increasingly terrifying for young people for many reasons. These factors can seem out of your direct control, especially when they correlate to geopolitical or environmental troubles.
However, there are many ways you can exert greater influence over your kid’s future. Whether you’re aware of these strategies or need a refresher, you’ll find some ideas to help you with these aims below.
Learn the Nuances of Will and Estate Planning
Even if your kids are young, the struggles of young adults today should be enough to give you concern. The economy has taken its toll on this age demographic, and things like homeownership can seem like a pipedream. Things could always get worse before they get better.
If you’re eager to leave behind a lasting legacy for your children, check out the differences between will and estate planning with Pinnacle. They explain where similarities exist and where they end, with wills typically being more straightforward and less comprehensive. Still, once you understand their differences, you may be more confident about what type of arrangement you’d like to make in your kid’s best interests.
Appoint a Responsible Guardian
Your will can specify who should look after your children in the event of your untimely demise. The choices you make here can be crucial.
Your child’s potential guardian should not be someone you ‘like the most’ in your friendship group. Other factors come into play here. Is the prospective guardian a responsible individual? Do they like and have experience with kids? Have they a rapport with your child already?
Kids are not taught everything they need to know in school. Paying bills, managing a mortgage, and other basic life chores aren’t detailed in the classroom. The guardian you’ve chosen needs to be able to impart tough life lessons when required and essentially assume the role of a parent in all things. Ensure you’ve listed someone in your will who can be trusted to perform at that standard.
Open a Children’s Savings Account
Children can become disinterested when you’re trying to teach them about money. However, if they better understand how these teachings directly affect them, they may be more willing to pay attention.
Opening a children’s savings account is a great way to get them involved in money management from a young age. It’s generally understood that the sooner you do this, the better, as interest in even the smallest contributions can build up over time.
Only you can access the money in the account up until your child turns 16 or 18, the latter depending on whether you’ve opened a junior ISA or a child trust fund. Consequently, you have plenty of years to make steady progress in accumulating your child’s wealth and teaching them the value of saving. After all, it can be a constant in their formative years.
Leaving something behind for your kids can be nice. However, equipping them to look after themselves from an early age will give you more confidence in how their future may pan out.