Old Mutual launches tool to help parents budget for child's future

"We've chosen to relate to our customers in a holistic way," explains Jaco Gouws, product manager at Old Mutual. "Saving for education is a hugely important parenting responsibility, but we understand that it's only one part of the whole adventure of parenting. All the tools have been created with time-strapped parents in mind and are quick and easy to use.

"Education is expensive; it's estimated a child who begins Grade R at a public school in 2012 will cost his or her parents more than R450 000 for primary and high school education. So our online financial tools have been designed to help parents be fully prepared for the cost of their children's education," says Gouws. The budgeting tool helps parents budget intelligently by providing them with an easy four step process that will give them a graphic view of their monthly income and expenses.

Keep track of baby's development

The cost of education calculator allows parents to quickly determine how much they'll need to pay for a child's education over a given period of time and helps them keep track of what they need to save. Also included is a milestone development guide, through which parents can keep track of every stage of their baby's development from pregnancy through to age three. What's more, these pages can be printed to create a baby scrap book that will record when that first tooth arrived, what their first words were and other special memories.

On the fun side, there's a baby shower planner, which helps to take the hassle out of organising a baby shower and includes useful tips and downloadable decorations. Also complete with creative decorations and a built-in RSVP system is the birthday party planner. Available on both these tools is a pledge form, through which parents and guests can pledge a donation towards the birthday child's education savings.

The new SmartTRACKER tool informs the parent whether the current savings and monthly premium is enough to cover their education goals. Parents can then take a future look at the impact of making a few changes to their premiums or investment choices. This tool, along with many other is available in a secure environment on MyPortfolio.