When two become three.

Having children alters your life dramatically - here's how to prepare yourself financially as we celebrate Mother's Day.

The addition of children to your family changes your financial situation dramatically. Increased responsibilities include higher medical expenses, greater need for disposable income, risk cover, needing a bigger house, and last but not least: planning for education.

Financial plan

No matter what your life stage or financial needs are, you need a financial plan and a budget. Both of these will change as your life circumstances change. If you need help, please visit our financial advice section for tips on how to manage your finances. (www.oldmutual.co.zw)

Emergency savings plan

It is important to put aside a certain amount each month to cater for life’s little emergencies. This should be done through a bank account or a lower-risk investment that offers you competitive interest rates and easy access to your money.

Planning for education

On the face of it, planning for education is simply catering for a long-term goal. However, as a good education is so precious, we choose to highlight it. This is a goal that you need to save towards as well as make a plan to protect yourself and your children in the event of misfortune such as your death or disability.

Saving for a goal

We all have our own goals in life, and round about now you may want to save for a holiday house or braces for your triplets. These are major financial outlays and require careful planning.

There are a variety of investment and savings products that will help you save for your goals and dreams. All of these are major financial outlays and require careful planning. There are a variety of products that will help you expose your capital to the potential for market-related growth.

Short-term insurance

You have worked hard to achieve your goals and obtain your possessions. So, whether it is a car or your new HD sound system, you should consider protecting your assets and possessions with a good short-term insurance product that suits your specific requirements.

Home loans

Children need space. If you are still in your first house, you will now need more bedrooms.

Retirement

Even with the increase in financial demands, you must ensure that you don’t sacrifice planning for your retirement.

Perhaps you should consider supplementing your employer’s pension plan with a retirement annuity of your own - after all, you want to be financially independent in your old age rather than dependent on your children.

Medical Aid

When you have children, you need to revisit your healthcare provisions. Alone or as a couple, your day-to-day expenses will most likely be less than when you have growing children.

Investments

You are now at a time in your life when you should really bolster your investment portfolio. Old Mutual offers a range of investment and savings products that can be an ideal and affordable way to structure an investment portfolio, – offering investment options for all types of risk profiles and appetites.

Risk protection: death and disability

Now that you have children, you have to worry about what will happen to them if something happens to prevent you from working – either temporarily or permanently. We offer a comprehensive selection of life and disability protection products to alleviate your concerns.

Funeral plans

Funerals are costly and complicated to arrange. Ensure that, should you die, you have removed these burdens from your spouse by investing in comprehensive funeral cover.

Estate planning

You now have your spouse to consider if you die. You also need to think about how your assets will be distributed and in the most tax-efficient way. Old Mutual offers an estate planning service that will help you draft your will, conduct a tax-efficiency analysis, and set up any trust.

Advice

Contact an Old Mutual financial adviser today to help you develop a financial plan that suits your current circumstances and financial position.

You can also call us on toll-free 433 or email [email protected] for expert financial advice and solutions.