Child Education Planning

Every parent wants to provide the best education to their child even in their absence. For making it possible they leave no stone unturned. It is a major investment that should be made wisely after considering various important factors that can affect the decision.

Education is quite expensive nowadays. A good education helps to secure the career of your child. You do not want that your child suffers and compromises his or her dreams due to some unfortunate event. That is why you should prefer buying a child education plan so that the insurance company takes care of higher studies of the child. Many people do not understand the value of a child education plan and they realize it when it is too late. You should buy the best child education plan for the future educational requirements of your child as early as possible. You should do a lot of research before selecting a child education plan so that you can get the best education plan as per your requirement.

Here is a 4-Point Checklist That Will Keep You On the Right Track:

1. Prepare a Roadmap

   Many parents fail to plan for the higher education of their children. Every parent wants to fulfill all the dreams of their child even in their absence. The dreams can only be fulfilled by doing the proper planning. First, it is important that parents should be aware of their goals. Once they know about their goals it would be easy for them to meet their goals. They should plan that how they would achieve their goals. They will have to prepare a roadmap by laying out the goal date, the amount required to meet the goal, and other parameters. It is not possible to achieve a goal until and unless you know about it. So basically first you should realize your goals then you should do the planning to achieve those goals. A roadmap gives you a clear idea about where you have to go and how. Make sure that you understand the future educational requirements of your child and then you make plans ahead to fulfill all those requirements.

2. Don’t Ignore Inflation

   Most of the people make this mistake as they ignore the impact of inflation on the value of the goal amount in the future. Education is already expensive and in the coming time, it is going to be more expensive. So it is important that parents consider the future value of an education not the present value of education. What is the profit of investing if is not going to fulfill your requirements for which you invested? You will have to take additional educational loans if you fail to understand the impact of inflation on the value of the goal amount in the future. An amount that seems adequate today may prove to be inadequate in the future when the goal date arrives. That is why it is important that whenever you are charting out the amount required to meet the goal, you consider the impact of inflation on this value in the future. A wrong goal amount can cost you a lot as you will have to make additional efforts and expenses if inflation is not considered properly. So the key is to not ignore the impact of inflation on the value of the goal amount in the future.

3. Select the Tool Carefully

   The next step is to decide which tool you are going to invest in. Parents should choose the tools wisely after considering various important factors. If there is a time in the education of your child let's say five years or more then you should invest in SIPs in aggressive mid-cap funds and small-cap funds without considering your risk tolerance. Do not forget the fact that if an investment involves huge risk then it also promised good and higher returns. In the end, volatility is in your favor over the long tenure. In order to create wealth for the long-term goals, you should prefer investing in SIPs. On the other hand, fixed income instruments and fixed deposits provide linear growth. These are good investment options as they help you from the up and downs of the market. You can also buy a child education plan for securing the higher education of your child. You should choose that child education plan which has dual benefits including saving and protection. Investing in a child’s education plan is an important decision that should be done wisely. The benefits of investing in a child education plan are that you get a life cover as well as it provides a cover for the education requirements of your child. You should do a lot of research before selecting a child education plan so that you can buy the best child education plan present in the market according to your requirement.

   Check out some of the child education plans:

   • Aditya Birla Sun Life Equity Fund: Aditya Birla Sun Life Equity Fund is an open-ended scheme with an allocation of 90% in equity and 10% in money market securities and debt. The risk associated with this investment plan is average and the returns are above average. The minimum investment is Rs. 1,000. It is a good option for long-term growth.
   • Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund: It is a good investment option for the long term. This fund helps to provide a corpus for the education of your child. Crisil has ranked this open-ended scheme as 3rd in the large-cap category. The minimum investment is Rs. 1,000. It is an equity-based fund.
   • ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund: The risk associated with this fund option is below average and returns are above average. It is an open-ended fund scheme. The initial minimum investment is Rs. 5,000 and the minimum additional investment is Rs. 1,000. The minimum withdrawal is Rs. 500.
   • Max Life Shiksha Plus Super Plan: Max Life Shiksha Plus Super Plan is a unit-linked child plan that provides you options of regular pay and limited pay for the payment of the premium. The minimum eligibility age is 21 years and the maximum is 50 years. The maximum maturity age is 65 years. The term of the policy of this child education plan is 10 years or 15 - 25 years. The premium can be paid annually, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly. The minimum sum assured is 10 times of annual premium and the maximum sum assured has no limit.
   • MetLife College Plan: The eligibility age of the MetLife College Plan ranges from 20 - 45 years. It is a traditional endowment plan that takes care of the higher education of your child. The policy term of this child education plan is 12 - 24 years. The maximum maturity age is 69 years. The premium payment term is equal to the term of the policy. The minimum sum assured is Rs. 2,12,040 and the maximum is Rs. 5 crores. Annually, half-yearly, quarterly, and monthly are the various modes of premium payment; you can choose any as per your comfort.
   • SBI Life Smart Scholar Plan: SBI Life Smart Scholar Plan is a unit-linked plan that provides an opportunity to make the premium payment in limited mode. The minimum eligibility age is 18 years and the maximum is 57 years. The maximum maturity age is 65 years. The policy term of this child education plan is 8 - 25 years. This plan has 7 fund options to choose from. The minimum eligibility age for the parent is 18 years and the maximum is 57 years. The maximum eligibility age for the child is 17 years. The minimum policy term is 8 years while the maximum is 25 years.

   Disclaimer: Policybazaar does not endorse, rate, or recommend any particular insurer or insurance product offered by an insured. The tax benefit is subject to changes in tax laws. *Standard T&C Apply

4. Protect Your Goal Correctly

   You should appoint a person whom you can trust as an appointee. An appointee is the one who will receive, invest, and deploy the sum assured in your absence. So make sure that you choose an appointee wisely in order to protect your goal. You should draft your will in which the sole purpose of your investment should be clearly mentioned. It is important that you protect your goal correctly so that your child can fulfill his or her dreams.

Conclusion:

A child education plan takes care of the higher education of your child. Every parent wants to provide the best education to their child which is why they prefer buying a child education plan. Life is very uncertain; no one knows what is going to happen next. That is why people plan in advance as they do not want that their child has to compromise with their dreams. You can also invest in a systematic investment plan as it is a good investment option for the long term. The risk involved with this option is higher but you cannot ignore the fact that the higher the risk is, the higher the returns are. That is why it is worth investing in a systematic investment plan.

It is important that you prepare a roadmap. In order to prepare a roadmap, first, it is important that you should know about your goals. The next step is to prepare a roadmap in which you will decide on the amount required to fulfill the goal, the goal date, and other important parameters. You should ignore the impact of inflation on the value of the goal amount in the future. An amount that seems sufficient today may prove to be insufficient in the future when the goal date arrives. That is why you should consider inflation when you decide the amount required to fulfill the goal.

You should select the tool carefully after considering various important factors. A lot of tools are present in the market that can help you to build a corpus for the education requirements of your child. You can buy a child education plan. You can invest in a systematic investment plan, fixed deposits, and other fixed-income instruments. It is also important that you protect your goal. You should choose the appointee wisely as appointee is the one who receives, invests, and deploys the sum assured when you are not around.

You should choose a child education plan wisely after considering various important factors including the premium amount to be paid, sum assured, additional benefits, mode of the premium payment, and more. Online medium is of great help as these days you can even buy a plan online. You should do a lot of research so that you can select the best child education plan as per your requirement. You can also use the premium calculator online as it helps you to compare various plans and select the best education plan as per your requirement and affordability.

If you are looking for the answers to various questions including:

• Share a 4-point child education planning checklist for Indian parents that will keep them on the right track.
• Is it worth investing in a child education plan?
• Which one is the best child education plan present in the market?
• What are some of the best systematic investment plans?

Then you are at the right place, please refer to the above-mentioned information in order to get answers to all your questions.