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Parents, in an attempt to give the best to their children, often make their own future go in the doldrums.

With education becoming expensive day by day; parents have to put in major financial endeavors in order to put their children through school & college. Moreover, apart from education, they require putting in funds for extra co-curricular activities, for their wards, as well. If this was not enough, then the trend of private tuitions makes parents go overboard with their financial budget. High tuition rates overburden the already stretched budget and the parents struggle to make two ends meet. In such scenarios,it becomes a duty for the children to assist their parents financially, immediately when they start earning so that their parents can retire with enough money in hand. Following are some ways through which you can assist your parents in enabling them to enjoy their golden years:

• Joint Education Loan

Rather than putting the entire burden of their studies on their parent’s shoulders, things can go much smoother with the aid and assistance of a joint educational loan. A joint educational loan makes parents the co-borrower along with their children. This way it is easy to fund higher education and if a child is planning to study abroad, the same can be of great help. Once the education is complete and the child lands a job he/she can start repaying the loan.

• Contribution towards wedding expenses

Instead of completely relying on parents and their spouse’s parents to spend on arrangements for their wedding; children and their would-be partners must contribute significantly towards wedding expenses. An opulentwedding should be a total no-no amongst both sides.

• Doing a part-time job

Children, instead of relying on their parents completely for their daily expenses, must consider doing a part-time job. The generation of today is highly tech-savvy and it is not difficult to find an office-based or even a home-based part-timejob. If children cover their daily expenses themselves; it will be a huge financial relief for their parents. Moreover, in case of emergency needs for small funds, they can even assist their parents by contributing from their part-time income. Another benefit of doing the part-timejob is that children realize the value of money and how difficult it is to earn it. This encourages children to save more and spend less.

• Encourage parents towards investment

While secured deposits such as FDs, PPF are mandatory; they won’t last more than a few years. Hence exposing the parents towards equity is mandatory. Investing in equity can be made safe by opting for safer balanced funds or mutual funds with monthly income plans. Moreover, out of the total post-retirement fund,a considerable part can be put intodebt funds to start a systematic withdrawal plan (SWP). Like this, there are plethoras of investment options through which children, who are more aware of these things, can make their parent’s retirement life cozy and comfortable.

This article was written in collaboration with a Singaporean tution agency, SmileTutor 

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