QUESTION: What is the best way to properly prepare for our child’s college education?—Question asked via Twitter

Answer: Oh wow, answering this particular question really hits close to home for me. As I write this column, I just issued a check for the enrollment of my children in college.

Providing for the education of our children is never easy and I always say that spending for their education requires blood, sweat and tears so to speak.

As parents, we want to ensure that our children will have a good future and we all believe that having good education is a step toward that direction.

However, the cost of “quality” education is such …

Read full article at http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20110517-337082/Coping_with_the_rising_cost_of_education

So what’s the problem with the pressures of education? Well, if we put nearly all our resources in it, we tend to neglect other things that are important, such as retirement. Let me use myself as an example. I have four kids. If I opt to send all of them to über-expensive schools at our current income level, I will not only neglect our retirement, I will be broke. My wife and I will not have resources to be able live a quality life after our kids leave the nest. As my youngest graduates, I will be retired. The pressures of financing their education will drain us to a point that as soon as I retire, my wife and I will be dependents. The question is, dependent on whom? Our kids? Isn’t that unfair to them? With the pressures of surviving, it will be severely difficult for them to take care of us while making a life for themselves. Isn’t that very irresponsible of me and my wife, as well?

Solution? Well, priorities and common sense. Yes, education is our priority as parents, but so is preparing for our own future. Let us not sacrifice our future in the guise of education. Look for balance, there are many other practical solutions. Look for schools that offer quality education without the hefty price tag. The success of a child does not come from the school but from the home. One study proved parents, grandparents and other older members of the family are better tutors than those expensive tutors or tutorial schools.

Another practical suggestion: Home School. If done properly, home schooling can help children fare better in life compared with those who went to expensive schools. Both husband and wife need to work to make ends meet; with educational costs taking a drain, it may make more sense if the wife stays home and home- schools the kids. Most mothers I speak to will often tell me that had it not been for financial pressures, they’d rather stay home and take care of their kids. Do the math: If you spend about P300,000 on education for all your kids and the mother makes just about P300,000, it is financially feasible to just home-school the kids.

Moms can take a job from the house or start a home business, as well, while taking care of kids, including their education. Fathers can help too; there are many things husbands should be doing to help wives—taking care of the kids should be up there especially when you decide to try home schooling. There are many good Department of Education-accredited home-school programs around at a fraction of the cost of normal big-school education. I’ve met a lot of home schooled kids who are doing great – smart, grounded, has great values and strong leadership. There are many successful stories around. CCF and Victory Christian Fellowship have really good home-school programs. They also have regular interactive programs that allow home-school kids to interact with each other. Imagine the savings if you home-school your kids. . . better yet, invest the money you saved from education and see it grow. . . . You will have more than enough for your retirement, for health care—with some extra to leave for your kids. Set aside part of the savings for their college education, as well, and invest it well. I guess I’ll do a follow-up article on tips on investing for the education of our kids. You can get many practical tips from http://www.income-tacts.com/ on educational investing.

Well, I did mention that I still have two more kids, Riggs and Chino, my wife and I are now home schooling them. I am sure we will be better teachers to our own children. . . so will you. Our decision to home-school our boys will allow us time to properly take care of our daughters’ college education. . . prepare for the boys’ colleges, save for retirement and hopefully enjoy quality living. It’s not good to worry, but it’s great to plan.

People say that it is quite a challenge to send our kids to school nowadays and I agree 100%!

Just how difficult is it? About 14 years ago, our eldest daughter Billie entered preschool. I can still remember her anxiety. . . how she didn’t want to be left alone in school and how she clung to her mom’s legs so tightly out of fear of her new environment. . . great memories indeed. Two years later, our second daughter Gabbie had a different experience. . . she didn’t have the fears of her ate and entered the school like a very confident little girl.

Aside from their first-day school experiences, I also remembered their tuition. My first child’s Kinder 1 tuition at her school was about P35,000, and my second daughter’s slightly increased to about P38,000. Today, me eldest daughter’s tuition is now about P 195,000 a year while my second daughter’s tuition is about P 105,000 – that’s a whopping 457% and a 176% increase respectively in a span of over a decade. These figures are not inclusive of books, uniforms, etc. — just tuition! By the way, I don’t have just 2 kids, I also have 2 more sons.

Our concern has always been about providing for our children’s educational costs and after sending kids to schools for over a decade, it doesn’t get any easier.

It’s all about priorities. Filipino parents are so admirable that they move heaven and earth just to send their kids to school. They labor, they sacrifice. . . . It is not uncommon to find deserving students in expensive schools even if their parents can’t really afford it. While that is indeed an admirable trait, it is also a big concern. Why? Many parents pour everything they have into their children’s education without really planning for themselves. The result? They will be dependent on their children in the future, an offshoot of putting everything in the education of their kids.

This is a very controversial argument. It is every parent’s concern and priority to provide for their children, education being one of them. I am not saying that parents forfeit this obligation; on the contrary, I often coach parents on how to properly prepare for education costs. But parents must put things in their proper perspective. The ability to provide for their kids’ education is commensurate with their ability to put their financial life in order. We can’t sacrifice quality living and preparation for the future in the name of our kids’ education. When it comes to expensive education, I often say “go!”, but just make sure you can truly afford it. There are preschools today that cost P200,000 or more. The sprouting of “international” schools that charge outrageous tuition is an indication of how we put value on education. I often ask myself if sending my kids to expensive schools is really worth it. Often, our finances are so drained because of education that we tend to sacrifice other areas like retirement planning, investments, etc.

Is expensive tuition really worth it? Is quality education really all about expensive schools? How much money do we spend on private tutors? We live in a culture that encourages sending our kids to schools—at a price we can hardly afford that it puts too much pressure on us parents. Sacrificing for our children’s future is admirable, and I agree with that 100 percent. But I disagree with putting our children’s hopes solely on educational institutions. Being a training professional myself, I know that the ability to teach people is not just about good teachers, materials and facilities. It’s really more than that. Honestly, did we really use what we learned in college when we started to work? Probably for doctors, dentists, lawyers. . . but for the rest of us? Hmm. Did school really prepare us for life? Do expensive, exclusive schools increase the chances of success?

There really is no way for us to validate these arguments, but there is something I am sure about. Not having gone to expensive schools will not prevent a person from being successful. How many successful people did not go to an expensive university? A lot! I often check out many executives and successful entrepreneurs for their educational background. There are just as many successful people who did not go to an expensive school as those who did….

Catch part 2 of this blog soon!