Graduation is upon us. The day that for both parents and teens could not have come any sooner and at the same time, has come all too soon. You’ve both toiled and triumphed over the years and now here you stand at the precipice like Mufasa offering your greatest achievement to the world. Urging your cub to take those first steps all alone while keeping them under your protection is a fine balance. So pull up a chair and let’s talk about what the next few months will bring and how you can best prepare yourself and your ‘Simba’ for a smooth transition.
Graduation
Let’s start here with a life lesson that your son or daughter cannot afford to be without, understanding the dangers of driving under the influence. There is a good chance that by now, your teen has used drugs or alcohol, or at the very least has been in the company of teens who do. If you haven’t already, now is the time to starting talking about the life altering implications one poor decision can have. They may roll their eyes at you, but make no mistake they hear your words.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 16-25 year olds and alcohol and/or drugs are a factor in 55% of these crashes. These are not accidents, they are collisions and they are preventable. A good place to start this grad season is by encouraging your teen and their schools to take the #DriveToThrive pledge and challenge their peers and other parents to do the same – pledge to find a safe way home this graduation season. It’s convenient, easy and on-line, and even better, there are prizes to be won just for making the smart choice. Visit DriveToThrive.ca for more information, to take the pledge and find useful resources about talking to your teen.
You might also find my latest post here about driving drugged helpful; the statistics are really shocking.
Post-Secondary Send Off
With graduation behind you, in just a few short months your young adult could be off on their next journey and for many this could mean a college or university away from home.
While making sure they are well fed and getting a few good nights sleep will be out of your hands, there are a some things you can do to make sure they are protected while they’re away.
Check with your InsureMy advisor to see what kind of coverage your home policy provides. Most include contents for your student living away from home, but may have some stipulations such as full-time enrollment. Additionally, the coverage maybe limited, so if your son or daughter’s student experience is a bit more lavish than the milk crates and futons of your fond memories you may want to make sure the you’ve got the right coverage.
And, don’t forget about health insurance. Once again, your plan may extend to your student living away from home, but don’t just assume. It’s worth the phone call, especially if their travels will extend outside of Canada; the costs of injury or illness can really add up.
Getting Straight to Work!
Perhaps the post secondary path is not the one for your child, or they’ve chosen to take some time before taking that next step. Don’t miss the opportunity to get them started on the right foot financially. By now they’ll be looking for a little more than allowance and if they don’t already have a part-time job, by the end of summer they may be well on their way to earning a fairly steady pay cheque.
No matter how big or small, understanding the importance of savings and investments are invaluable life lessons. It’s never to soon to start an RRSP and your young adult does not need to have a small fortune in savings to start talking to a financial advisor. In fact this is the perfect time and a financial advisor is just the right person to guide them down the path for healthy, financial success. An InsureMy advisor can introduce you to a professional, just ask.
Want to know more? Review these sources and resources.
Have More Questions?
Let me know and I’ll do my best to address it here for you and all of our readers. Better yet, contact an InsureMy advisor; these guys know their stuff. Email Info@InsureMy.ca or give them a call locally at (403) 410-1896 or toll free at 1-844-410-1896.
Everyday Insurance With Allie
Working mom, lover of the great outdoors and self-professed know-it-all. Our resident blogger, Allie isn’t the insurance guru she claims to be – but she’s learning and we are happy to help guide her. All the while keeping you in the loop on the “insurancey” stuff you need to know. #AskAllie
