Minor children need uninterrupted support for their education—from their first day in the classroom to the realization of their educational objective. The funding requirements for educating children vary widely from one family to another. A public school education that terminates at high school has relatively modest costs compared to the costs of a private school education including preschool, prep school, private university, and professional school. The disparity in costs is a function of both each school’s tuition and the duration of the schooling itself. The factors influencing parents’ educational goals and decisions often involve a complex mixture of family history, family philosophy toward education, family income, and the abilities and personality of the child. Children are often encouraged to attain at least the same level of education as their parents. But planning on an ivy league education, for example, will be for naught if the child does not have adequate financial support to enable him or her to attend a school of that caliber.

For very young children the planning horizon for education may exceed 20 years. Although primary school costs in the next few years may remain relatively similar to those today, adjustments for inflation must be made for educational costs to be incurred more than a decade into the future. Choosing the appropriate inflation factor involves some guessing, but it is safe to assume that the inflation rate will be greater than zero. Some authorities on the subject recommend a planning assumption of 7 percent to 8 percent annual inflation in taxation costs.

Permanently disabled children have special educational needs. Sometimes these children require lifelong training and education. Each family situation is likely to have its own unique set of needs and challenges, and each involves long-term planning.

Educational needs of the family are not restricted to the children. A surviving spouse may need further education to increase future income potential to help support the family. The spouse may need a modest refresher course or training to return to a prior occupation. On the other hand, the spouse’s need may be extensive, such as preparing to enter the job market for the first time or trying to upgrade to a higher-paying career. There is even the possibility that a surviving spouse may need training for a less demanding career if he or she has become permanently disabled in some manner.

One very important consideration in providing education or training to the surviving spouse is whether the survivor will be able to earn any income while pursuing his or her education or training. Funding spousal education on a full-time basis usually requires prefunding family support while the spouse is a full-time student and prefunding the educational or training costs themselves.

In some cases the surviving spouse may be able to pursue the education on a part-time basis while he or she is employed in the workforce. This is a heavy emotional burden and a physically challenging avenue for a surviving spouse who becomes a single parent. Pursuing education on a part-time basis may greatly lengthen the period of time needed to complete the educational program. This will delay any significant increases in earned income for the surviving spouse and family members. If the potential increase in income because of further education is large enough, it may actually be less costly to prefund a full-time educational program. Obviously each situation must be evaluated on an individual basis.