If you’re a parent, you probably understand how children’s extracurricular activities can be a blow to the bank account — if they are not planned for properly.
When you combine sports, music and tutoring for more than one child, those costs can add up to thousands of dollars over one year. While you may have planned for these expenses in your own family, your clients can probably use some help in this area.
Roger Wiart, division director with Investors Group Inc. in Edmonton, provides a four-step process to advising your clients about their kids’ activities:
1. Check for clients’ expenses
Clients often forget to include costs for their children’s sports and artistic activities when they’re talking to advisors about their cash flow, Wiart says.
“Clients always find they’re spending what they’re making,” Wiart says. “But when you ask them to do a budget, [the numbers don’t agree] because of the extracurricular stuff that they never budget for properly.”
So, if your clients find their budget shows an “on paper” surplus that they never see, ask them about their kids’ expenses. Perhaps those Peewee hockey fees and ballet lessons account for this discrepancy.
2. Propose saving and investment options
Because these are annual expenses, look for ways in which clients can build short-term savings that are not locked in.
The tax-free savings account (TFSA) is an excellent way to set money aside and earn some tax-free interest while retaining access to those funds. You can talk to your clients about conservative mutual fund options that are also relatively liquid.
3. Know how government tax credits can help
Your clients’ children may be eligible for arts tax credits and sports tax credits.
Activities such as art classes, piano lessons and tutoring are included on the “arts” side. Hockey, golf and bowling are some of the activities included under the sports tax credit. The child must be under the age of 16, unless he or she is also eligible for a disability tax credit, in which case the cut-off age is 17.
Parents can claim up to $500 per child per credit on registration fees paid in the previous tax year. Should they claim the full amount, they can expect to receive $75 on their tax return for each credit applied to a child.
4. Help clients determine priorities
Are your clients spending inordinate amounts on children’s activities? Perhaps they should ask themselves whether these expenses are affecting their ability to save for their children’s post-secondary education or their own retirement. If that is the case, show clients what their savings would look like with and without the expenses from those children’s activities.
You should, however, be sympathetic to your clients’ desires to provide their kids with these experiences, Wiart says.
“In the end, it’s not how much money you get out of life, it’s how much life you get out of your money,” he says. “If clients really want to spend and they’re passionate about that, I always find it’s hard for us to say no.”
Try to help clients find ways to make these activities more affordable. Are their children old enough to work and contribute to paying their registration fees? Can families carpool to events to cut down on travelling costs?