We don’t want to sound like old fuddy-duddies here but, other than a recent little dip in the price of petrol (which we know will come back to haunt us somehow), everything just seems to become infinitely more expensive by the day.

Private schooling in this country is, of course, no different. You may have seen the recent figures flying around for a year’s education at some of our most prestigious educational institutions. Seriously folks, these numbers don’t make for pretty viewing.

Hilton College sits atop the 2014 list, setting you back a cool R209 000 per annum per child. This is before you have shelled out the moola for uniforms, textbooks and regular visits to the tuckshop. Let that sink in for a moment.

Then, when you have caught your breath, enjoy this forecast from ezfinancial:

At an inflation rate of 6%, if you had a son today, you would need to come up with R420,549.06 by the year 2027 for his first year of high school at Hilton College, by the time he reaches matric, you will be paying R530,933.50 for the year.

That is an awful amount of mowing the lawn and taking out the garbage. Now, this isn’t an attack on Hilton at all, so stop getting your tweed jackets in a twist alumnus. We are merely pointing out the kind of money you will need stashed away in 12 years time, when your kids set off to learn and fleece you for every last cent you possess.

The long and short of all of this is that we need to start some kind of financial planning. This is usually a rather daunting prospect, but with friends like Consequence Private Wealth we need not get too worked up. This is financial planning made simple, with their team of expert advisors there to assist you in growing your monetary empire.

To quote them, “the consequences of decisions made today will unfold over a lifetime based on the sound principles applied at their inception”.

Time to break open the piggy bank, pull out the wad of notes stashed in your cupboard underneath those dirty mags and let the professionals take over. Cha ching!