Joint family is a family in which more than one generation lives together under one roof. For example parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, children altogether.

Some of the advantages of raising kids in Joint Family structure are;

• We do not put our kids in day care, neither do we hire maids to take care of our kids. Grandparents and relatives take very good care of them. The love and care which grandparents can shower on kids cannot be compared with care of any day-cares or maids.
• Since the entire family stays together the expenses are shared too. No one is burdened with the expense of the entire household.
• There are a usually a few kids in the house so the sharing of clothes and toys reduces the expense on the kids too.
• The child grows on to become a strong individual both physically and emotionally. Physically, because there are people who will keep a keen eye on her, protecting her from any probable accidents. She receives so much love and warmth from everyone in the house that she becomes emotionally strong too.
• The child learns the virtue of sharing because she sees that each and everything in the house is being shared by everyone. This also curtails the arrogance in the kids.
• As a parent if I go somewhere for a couple of hours then I don’t have to worry a bit because each and everything would be taken care of. My child would be as happy when I return as I had left her. Properly fed, rested and entertained.
• The kid learns to adjust to every situation in life. When you live with so many people adjusting with each other is a virtue you have to master.
• The kid learns to respect elders.
• The kid learns a lot from all the elders in the house. Her grandparents tell her about their pasts and cultures of the family.
• There is never a dull moment in life. There are so many people to play with her that she never feels alone.
• If someday I am feeling sick or unwell I don’t have to worry at all. Not only will my daughter’s needs be taken care of but simultaneously I would also be pampered till I have healed completely.
• The child learns about her culture and festivals. Every festival here is celebrated with great fanfare.

These were some of the benefits of living in the joint family system which are rampant in India.

The family which lives together, stays together.

Parenting is a big task and you need to have every good point in your child eliminating each and every bad ones. However, at any step, this must be clear to all parents that children are also human beings and they can also make mistakes. Since their age is tender and they have less maturity, they make more and silly mistakes. It is only the high expectations of the parents that they get irritated and scold or yell at their children.

If you think that your child is wise and he has knowledge and intelligence more compared to that of the children of his age, you need to be more careful in addition to being proud of your child. A wise child will try to use his intelligence in every field and it is your duty to keep him glued on the right track. We, parents need to nurture and safeguard our children. We have to limit their exposure to damaging elements and do our best to bring up a healthy and wise child.

Follow these tips to the ‘T’ for raising a wise child. 

Develop Positive Environment

Let your child know that you are extremely happy when he arrives. Let him see the excitement and the light dancing in your eyes. Greet him warmly and say his name loud. Such affection will fill in him the joy and enthusiasm of facing the world.

Limit Television Viewing

Limit your child’s television viewing. Make sure he watches educational and creative programs and channels. This is important because since your child is gifted, he might make wrong use of other exciting and thrilling channels. It might turn dangerous at times.

Encourage Your Child to Make Rules 

Ask your child to make his rules and go through them. If the child decides on his own when and what to study, he will perform better. Let him decide when he wants to complete his homework and study. You can give your advice or let him experiment for a week with his routine.

Be Your Child’s Support System 

Support your child’s feeling of getting bored. Everyone gets bored sometime or another in life. This is a natural phenomena and everyone goes through this. Try to engage him in the things that are of his interest. Allow your child to develop his creativity in the field that makes him happy.

Spend Quality Time with Your Child 

Let your child know that he is more important than your work. Pay attention to the topic or the problem of your child, no matter even if you are extremely busy.
Practice before you preach. Be a role model for your child. Children imitate their parents and so if you are able to show a decent and matured behaviour all the time, your child will follow suit.

Tips for Raising a Wise Child

Here are some more tips for raising a wise child.

• Start teaching your child about manners as early as possible.
• Create a mannerly environment in your home. Say ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’ when necessary so that your child learns all these things at home.
• Talk to your child as if he is a person and never treat him like a baby while talking to him.
• Sit and read with your child and encourage him at intervals.
• If your child is small, do not allow him to play video games.
• Teach him morals as early as possible.

Raising a wise child is a difficult task because you have to stay cautious also at every step. In addition, you need to mould him very carefully and vigilantly. Do not hurt the self esteem of your child and help him know about the good and wrong as early as possible.

Raising a child is not just an emotional and physical investment for parents, but it’s a big financial obligation also. With the cost of education, health and food increasing raising a child is costlier than ever in India.

So how much does it cost a middle class Indian to raise a child, to understand let’s first understand the costs associated with raising your child? Here is a list of major cost heads for raising a child.

1. Education
2. Entertainment
3. Clothing
4. Food
5. Healthcare
6. Vacations
7. Other costs

Let’s review these costs one by one and look at how much will it cost in today’s time to raise a kid.

1. Education

Education expenses can be broken down into three broad areas –

• Preliminary education/school
• Coaching for professional programs like ( Engineering/Medical/CA)
• Expenses on graduation studies like ( Engineering/MBBS etc.)
• Other optional expenses can be Postgrad expenses

2.   Health Expenses

Health care expenses are rising very quickly in India, As per an Economic Times study in 2011 average cost of raising a child was 2.1 lacs. Since then, there has been a sustained inflation in health care costs that have more than doubled.  So average health care costs to raise a child will be in the range of 5 lacs.

3. Clothing, toys & Gadget expenses

A cursory trip to a kids store and you will realise that kids clothes and toys are the costliest things to buy. With amazing merchandise being available for kids and brands running specific marketing campaigns focused on kids clothing, toys and Gadgets can cost you up to 50k per year.

4.  Food expenses

Food and other related expenses including eating out can cost on an average Rs 6000-Rs 7000 per person. So this can be another 80k of expenses, per year. This is going to increase as food inflation increases so over 20 years or food might cost you about 15-20 lacs in today’s money.

5. Entertainment/Vacation expenses

This is flexible based on your needs but an average middle-class household going out for a movie every week and may be some play or a weekend trip can cost about Rs 4000 per person.  One domestic vacation per year can cost you about 30 k per person, so on an average yearly expense on

Here are few tips on how you can save and plan your investments to take care of your child’s requirements:

1. Start saving early:

Less than 10 % of parents start saving just when their kids are born while saving for kids this is the most important thing to do, if you start late you are going to have a very small runway, so start early

2. Create Financial goals in line with money required at different stages

While some expenses are regular but major education expenses come in chunks, so you need to plan it ahead create a financial goal for education and ensure you save and invest diligently to achieve the goal.

3. Do not buy structured child care plans which are promoted by all banks, they normally give poor returns.
4. For long term goals, invest in equity rather than creating fixed deposits.

Finally, raising a kid is a series of financial obligations, plan it well and if required consult with your financial advisor.