Last week I introduced you to a mini-testimony from a friend who put himself deeply into debt – I can tell you now that he is debt free. He has a regular budget that he reviews month by month. He has no credit cards, he has money in the bank which means that he has enough money to cover his expenses for three months if he has no wages. Now that he is not paying off finance he can now be free and happy to give tithe every week. He is also able to give to people in need. He knows now that he can be a blessing to others – when before he couldn’t. He is also saving for his children’s university fees.

My friend has no children – yet. He is still saving for their future – just in case. I can’t say how he is saving for his children’s future. He has asked me not to ask and not to guess. I can offer you two samples of how people do save that I can offer you.

“Tom Biggar, head of investments at TQ Invest has two children, Bode, 5, and Arran, 2. He’s saving money for either school fees or university.

He says: “Both children have Child Trust Funds (these have now been replaced by Junior ISA’s) and we picked the F&C Private Equity Trust which is quite volatile but as we have about 16 years to go we are taking a long-term view. We also have some unit trusts – Allianz BRIC Stars - for the boys and we make a regular monthly payment into them, again taking a 10-year view”.

David Braithwaite, managing director of Citrus Financial Management, has started investing for his 21-month-old son Harvey.

“We have started an ISA for him in my wife Clare’s name but although it will be his money, we’re in control and can have a say on how it’s spent. It might be to buy and insure a car at 17 or provide an income if he goes to university. The downside is that if anything happens to Clare the ISA will form part of her estate and not necessarily go to Harvey. We’ve gone for quite a high risk multi-manager fund with Henderson. If we save £100 a month and assume 7 per cent growth, that will mean a lump sum of £42,330 minus costs and charges over 18 years. With 18 years to go we can ride out the highs and lows and I’m happy to take a risk. If he looks like going to university and it gets closer to the time we might lock in the gains by moving the money to something safer.”

What do we learn from this? The first is that you should genuinely start your planning early. The saving ought to go into your monthly planned budget. Sometimes you may save more, sometimes less. The second is that the saving is for the children. It is for them, which means that when you look there may well be saving accounts that are better for saving for children than for adults. The third is that your children’s future is vital. You plan to help them when your finances are strong enough to not put your children at risk.

My friend writes, “So there you have it folks. Education funding in a nutshell. Please note that you should always seek independent professional advice at all times before you start investing.” I would add the following, “All of this is a spiritual act of worship. It is not about saving money just to get richer. Our financial stewardship, as Christians, means that because our finances are in order we can give to God’s glory.”

Bryn has selected today's music - "Your Promises" (LIVE)