Most people who find themselves expecting a child have not asked whether they can afford one or not. If they did I expect that there would be a lot less children entering the world because children are expensive! No, most people (myself included) dwell on the romantic side of having children and expect the finances to take care of themselves somehow. As a parent, though, you want the absolute best for your child and, sadly, many of us cannot afford that due to lack of planning.

I am a firm believer in saving 10 percent of all earnings from day one. More if it’s possible and desirable.  Provide a savings and investment cushion for life in general, which includes having children if having them is part of your life plan. In a perfect world there would be no need for financial planners as everyone would be planning from their first pay cheque. Excitingly, though, our lives are not perfect, allowing us the opportunity to be creative when exposed to pressure.

If you are not expecting a baby yet, but would like to, then you can start planning now. Some people do focus on their career first and when a suitable income level has been reached (where they believe they can afford a baby or two), then they eagerly plan. They put some money aside to splurge on new pink or blue bedrooms and all the baby paraphernalia that comes with a family expansion.

Others may work on starting their own business instead. Upon reaching a steady and suitable cash flow they then decide to go ahead and plan for junior to take over the family business one day.

If you are planning to have enough cash to adequately provide for children, then you need to take the following costs into account:

• The extra costs that are not covered by your medical aid during pregnancy, birth and the neonatal stage.

• The initial capital outlay on a cot, pram, clothes, nappies, etc.

• The ongoing costs of medical expenses in baby’s first years that result in your medical aid limits being quickly reached (most parents experience this I’m afraid).

• The cost of child care should a parent not be able to stay at home and eventually nursery school.

• Primary and then high school. Liberty has estimated these costs in 2018/2019 (when children born this year — 2012 — start school) to be roughly about:

• R20 000 p.a. for primary school

• R75 000 p.a. for a private primary school

• Then seven years later, high school:

• R42 000 p.a. for high school

• R139 000 p.a. for a private high school

• University fees, five years later are expected to be in excess of R100 000 p.a.

These figures are based on current costs escalated at eight percent p.a. for education inflation.

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