I Started A 529 College Plan for My Son, Eve Though Money Is Tight – ryan

In 2021, My Husband and I Were Only One Year Intgraduate Life and Very New to Mariage. At the time, Our Financial Literacy Left a Lot to Be Desides, and Being New Parents Only Complicated All of this.

Nor our son grew month after month, we start thinking more serialsly about his future and that of our family.

The Phrase Heard So Often, “The Days Are Long, but the Years Are Short,” Started to Feel Very Real AS we navigated the first year with our son. We knew that while the day-to-day May Feel Overwhelming, Mary Years from Now, We’ll look back and wonder if we have made the most of the years flashed before us in a blink.

That’s wen i knew it was time to start saving for my son’s Future.

We chose a 529 plan

Our Knowledge of Financial Planning for the Future was limited. Being a researcher by natural, scoured the internet, listening to podcasts, and spent more than i’d like to admit playing with projection calculators. This carried on for months, and when ion son was nearly a year Old, I opened a 529 Account in his name.

I chose this route for a few reasons: Tax-free grown and withdrawals, the freedom to apply the funds to trade schools and more alternative pathitting, and the ability to use the funds for his k-12 schooling.

We’ve Contributed to Our Now Four-Yaar-Old Son’s 529 College Savings Plan Month Since, IT’S NOT A FLASHY OR EXCITING DECISION, AND IT’S NOTE ONE THAT WE MADE BECAUSE WE SIMPLY HAVE OF EXTRA MONEY LYING AROUND.

Like Most Parents of Young Kids, We’re Juggling the USUAL PRESSS: A MORTGAGE AND COSTS OF HOMEOWNERSHIP, A CAR PERYMENT AND WEHICLE MAINTENANCE, HIGH GROCKERY COSTS, and the Real, Ongoing Expert A Child in Today’s Economy.

But this Particular Choice to Invest Regularly in Our Child’s Future, tan Other Needs Compete for Our Dollars, has Become a cornerstone of Our Financial Mindset.

Our Small Contributions Still Add Up

At first, The Contributions were Small – $ 25 times, $ 50 there —Whatever we could have been in those early months.

But gradually, stopped seeing it as a “nice-to-hat” and started treating it like a non-negative. TODAY, IT’S BAKED INTO OUR MONTHLY BUDGET, RIGHT ALONGSIDE THE MORTGAGE AND THE UTILITY BILLS.

We know we won’t be able to cover the dollar of our training and that ok. The point isn’t perfection. IT’S Preparation.

Now and as he grows, we will be intended for modeling the value of hard work and financial stewardhip. He’ll know that while we’ve we’ve saved and planned ahead for Him, he will also have a roles to play in His Education – Through Efffort, Responsibility, and Ownership of His Own Goals.

Preparing for His Future is Part of Our Legacy

IT’S HARD TO THINK LONK-TERM WEND-TERM COSTS ARE CONSTANTLY STARING YOU IN THE FACE. And yet, of Believe that chooksing to Save for Our Child’s Future;

More than a Financial Decision, ITE’s One Roooted in Legacy. What does it really mean to raise kids while also building a life shaped by Purpos, Stewardship, and Vision? For me, it look like this: planning for the futures while still being present, setting systems in place that reflects, and staying the coursse – events aren’t perfect.

Of Course, there are seasona when saving takes a backseat to survival. I know what it is like to weigh the Cost of Diapers Against Car Repairs or a New Hvac System. But i’ve also learned that progress requires consistent and a Willingness to Begin, the tissue of Small.

So every month, we kep showing up for our future and that of our son. Quietly, steadily, and with a lot of Heart.

One day, we do he’s Old Enough to Ask Why We Made the Choices We Did, I Hope He’ll See We Believed In His Potential, That We Thought Ahead, and That Made Room for HIS FUTE IN THE MIDDLE VERE FULL Present.

Because to us, that what legecy is really is: Not Grand Gestures, but intentional Ones.