This month, I was challenged to start working towards my dream – the ability to send my son to college 10 years from now. I am not alone in this dream and I know many of us moms think about tuition fees as early as December. What more if in 10 years, our children are going to college. Will we afford to send them to the university or college that is right for them?
Financial advisors agree that one of the first steps to achieving our dreams is by putting a number on it. This sounds scary, nakakatakot isipin kung magkano ang kakailanganin para matupad ang mga pangarap natin! But maybe when we know, we won’t be as scared and can actually do something to achieve that number.
How to Use Insular Life Finance Calculator
To help us put a number on our dreams, we can use a financial calculator like this one found on the Insular Life website.
Step 1: Choose the Financial Product you want to invest in. For this post, I’d like to know how much a college educational plan would cost. So I will go to the educational plan calculator.
Step 2: Enter your child’s current age and an estimate of how much college education in the Philippines cost. Base on my own research, this is P200,000 per year that increases about 6% annually. I am already scared!
Step 3: Click “Calculate” at the end of the form. This is how much I need to save. If you are using the financial calculator too, please breathe deeply and continue reading.
According to the very helpful website, I need to save P1,760,517.38 for my son’s college education. Wait lang at iinom muna ako ng tubig. Okay, let’s think of it this way – if you are in the same or similar boat as I am, we still have 10 years to save that amount. So annually, we should save P176,051.738 and if we break it down further by months, this is P14,670.97. Malaki pa rin para sa panahon ngayon but I believe there are ways to make our money work for our dreams.
The value of our money can potentially grow more versus saving that P14,670.97 monthly in the bank. Plus, insurance products can not only help us save but can also protect ourselves, our income, and our children’s future. Correct me if I am wrong but because of better returns up to 10%, the premium that you have to pay for educational plans would be at least 10% less than our computation above. Look at this example from the Finance Manager app:
Insular Life lists down at least 3 educational plans below the financial calculator. I am not a registered financial advisor nor have I explored these products fully. Do click on each and make time to study your options for choosing the best educational college plan for your children. I’ve met two financial advisors who are knowledgeable about these products – Janice Decena and Ysa Benitez. Click their names for info on how to get professional advice.
I have been using the Insular Life Financial Manager app too for the last 2 weeks. I set a target of saving P5,000 and have saved P2000 so far but now I know this is not enough. This has inspired me to be brave, dream big and be proactive in working towards this goal especially for 2017. I will be a smarter mommy when it comes to daily expenses, travel, and always be brave to take the right steps that will bring me closer to my goal and not distract me from it.
We can do this Mommy!
Mommy Lace is a blogger from the Philippines. She started this blog to share information on pregnancy, breastfeeding, childcare, family, and health.
