With the year hurtling to an end (where did the year go?), we might be thinking of a clean slate in January for lots of reasons!
If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to save more during the year (as we all wonder how Christmas can be so expensive), then now is an opportune time to be thinking of it. It would be great to get the New Year off to such a good start, with a Savings Plan in place for 1st January 2017!
We all need short term and long terms savings. As a general rule, we would recommend that short term savings are invested in short term deposit accounts with your Bank or Credit Union. We should all have some funds, which are accessible for those larger, one off expenses that can occur during the year as well as emergency funds for any unexpected expenses.
We should also always aim to save for the long term. Long term savings will always be appreciated for the larger expenses in life, perhaps to change the car or for children’s education. Long terms savings, invested for the long term, will also generally reap stronger investment growth due to the nature of such investments, not only held in cash but in a diversified mix of assets.
I’ve blogged about this before but I think long term savings for education purposes is essential.
As per the Dublin Institute of Technology the cost of third level education to include college fees and the costs associated with a student living away from home is €11,000. Therefore a typical Degree programme will cost a parent an average of €44,000 per child!
Quite a startling figure and one which we really have to pay heed to if our ambition is to afford our children a third level education.
So if you have been meaning to start a Saver for whatever reason, this is the perfect opportunity to do so, as it will be set and ready to go for 1st January 2017! Thus getting the New Year off to a great start!
This is an opinion only and does not constitute advice as individual circumstances will determine all financial advise given.
