Saving for kids may require a fund of over £100,000, based on the career choices of today’s 5-7 year olds, according to latest research published this week.
According to new research by The Children’s Mutual in its annual ‘What I Want to Be’ poll, becoming a teacher, doctor or vet are the job of choice for five, six and seven year-olds - and those choices have topped the poll for the last three years, demonstrating that children consistently aspire to careers that will need higher education.
However, funding the university costs for a budding doctor or vet could require savings for kids of £116,000 and £117,000 respectively in 18 years’ time. It currently costs £74,700 to train to become a doctor and £75,100 to become a vet but these are set to increase by around £41,000, based on current projection levels, over the next 18 years.
The Children’s Mutual questioned over 1,000 parents about what their children wanted to be when they grew up, and found that the majority of today’s children are looking for a career which requires further training and education.
The reality also suggests that saving money for children is essential, even for those parents hoping their children might fund their own education. Over 93 per cent of parents of today’s young adults are still funding their children, according to The Children’s Mutual.
The top career choices for children as listed in the study were as follows.
Girls: Teacher / Vet / Doctor / Nurse / Dancer / Hairdresser / Pop Star / Artist / Actress / Ballerina.
Boys: Footballer /Policeman / Fireman / Scientist / Doctor / Teacher / Vet.
Saving for kids is as much a part of financial planning as saving for one’s own pension, and there are a good range of saving plans for children available, even though the mainstay of children’s savings, the Child Trust Fund, is being phased out.
“Parents tell us their young children are highly ambitious and that they, as parents, fully intend to help them fund their futures. But the sums of money the top careers command could cause financial nightmares for families who don’t plan ahead,” said Tony Anderson, Marketing Director of The Children’s Mutual.
“While the Coalition Government has announced its plan to significantly reduce payments into Child Trust Funds from 1 August 2010 and to abolish the scheme altogether for new babies born from 1 January 2011, the reality is that the cost of children’s futures hasn’t changed. We believe that the only way for parents to financially manage these costs is by saving regularly over the long term.”
