If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to?

Back over the years as each of our grandchildren was born, we invested $1000 for each of them to go into an account to be held in trust by their parents. Our oldest grandchild is now 20 and all our 10 grandchildren are growing up fast.

Should I be lucky enough to have $1 million to give away, I would divide it by 10 so that each of our grandchildren has $100,000. They might use this in several ways, everything from furthering their education, to using the money for a deposit on a home or a unit, or indeed to travel.

I would give the money with no strings attached but would appeal to each of the grandchildren that they use that money wisely and prudently. We are blessed by having 10 grandchildren who are young people imbued with a sense of responsibility. They give rise to great pride and are a credit to their parents.

So often money that is given from inheritances or other sources, is offered to those who could have done with financial support in earlier years but they now no longer need support because they have found their way to the successful point in life they have reached.

So many other people are forced into that by having to pay interest on loans for cured for particular purposes, particularly study. That’s especially the case in Australian universities that charge students under a “Higher Education Contribution Scheme or HECS” for courses they are undertaking.

Students often are forced to take out loans, funded by the federal government, to cover their costs before earning a degree and then that money has to be paid back under the HECS scheme, when they start earning above a particular level.

Although interest is not charged on HECS borrowings, the amount that is recoverable by the government increases as the cost of living rises within the country.

Many students spend years as adults with family responsibilities, having to pay back these loans. So for each of our grandchildren to have a $100,000 that could be applied to study so that fees are paid up front without accumulating that would be a good use of what we give them.

There are of course other things as I have mentioned to which the money could be applied.

The thing is our grandchildren need that money more than we do, or even their parents do.

So that’s where my million dollars would go.

The future of our grandchildren’s lives and what life holds for them are very important factors.