The Before - Baby To - Do List

Picking baby names and smelling tiny little baby clothes is far more fun than thinking about how you’re going to pay for your newborn’s tertiary education. But financial planning for your baby is far more important, so we asked our experts for their advice, writes Melany Bendix

- Melany Bendix

IT’S NEVER TOO late to become financially savvy, says certified financial planner Duncan Fraser of DBF Financial Planning and Wealth Solutions, who adds that being pregnant can be the nudge you needed to get your financial affairs in order.

START WITH THE MOST BASIC

STEP: working out exactly how much you spend each month in order to know how much you have to save for your child’s education, medical cover or savings, life insurance and good old fashioned saving and investments. Ideally, you should be putting at least 20 percent of your income towards all this. If you can’t manage 20 percent, Duncan suggests aiming for 10 percent and gradually bumping it up as you become more financially stable.

THEN YOU NEED TO DECIDE HOW MUCH OF THAT 10 TO 20% WILL GO TO:

1 MEDICAL SAVINGS

 “The medical bills incurred during pregnancy can ruin your financial plan and riddle you with debt,” warns Marcel Wasserman, a financial advisor with T&E FinOps.

To avoid this, he says expecting parents should save between R20 000 and R50 000 for their new baby – the higher end of the spectrum if they aren’t covered by medical aid and want to give birth at a private hospital. “While it’s free at a public hospital, a C-Section with no medical aid is around R40 000 at a private hospital and a natural birth can cost around R20 000.

“Then, after baby is born, consider a family medical plan or, at the very least, some form of medical savings for emergencies.”

2 EDUCATION