Cost of Child Education – Planning and Calculator

Loving your child is what comes naturally but as a responsible parent you have certain obligations towards your child's future. No matter what, you will always want to do your best and ensure that funds are available at appropriate time to meet all those turning points in his/ her life such as higher education, marriage, etc. These milestones in your child's life are some of those very precious events and will always be cherished by you and your child if met well and on time.

But, you can only do so when you plan for such events well in advance and in a systematic manner. Saying so, the birth of your child is one of the most important phases in your life and this is when your responsibility as a parent begins. If you realize this and take the first wise step towards securing your child's dream from the very day, there will be no regrets.With you or without you, the regular inflow of funds to meet the financial obligations of funding your child's tuition fees,higher education abroad or a dream wedding should be timely funded for. That's when you will feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement towards the responsibility of your child.

You always want to be there to fulfill their dreams at every step of the way. But just wishful thinking is not enough and you must plan effectively to secure the future of your child. So, here are some factors that you must consider while planning
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The rising cost of education
The costs of education is constantly increasing. In the last 10 years, private school fees has gone up by 150% as per survey conducted by  ASSOCHAM (May, 2015).
Graduation and post-graduation costs are also going to increase drastically. 

Below is a table which shows the data for a private school in Kandivali in Mumbai for a child studying in STD : III. It may be less or more depending on the school which you select.

Cost	Annual Cost- For One Child	Annual Cost- For Two Children
School Fees	45000	90000
Shirt/ Trousers/ Skirts	2500	5500
Shoes	3500	6800
Bag / Bottles	1500	3000
Sports Kit	2000	4500
Text books	3400	7000
School trips	2500	5500
School Clubs	1500	3000
Technology	1500	2500
Tution Coaching Expenses
Primary Level	5,000	10,000
Secondary Level	25,000/-	50,000
Extra Co-curricular Expense
Primary Level	3,000	5,000
Secondary Level	8,000	10,000
Total	79400	202800

Increase in Education Cost of 1 Child with an Inflation of 5%

The total cost of education for a single year for STD III is Rs 79400 which calculated up to 10th Standard with an inflation of mere 5% comes to around 111723
Apart from the above it is clear that savings are not enough and you need investment where diversification is a must.

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Start Investing as early as possible

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has increased the fee for its flagship two-year postgraduate programme in management (PGPM) from Rs 18.5 lakh to Rs 19.5 lakh. Increase in 1 lakh fee is 5% inflation of Rs 18.5 Lakhs. 
Fees in IIM-A in 2011 was Rs 14.5 Lakhs. click here to find out the fees for various year in IIM.
If you looking to send your child for a post graduate degree abroad in a Institute like Harvard Business School cost is approximate Rs 96 Lakhs in present value

Source : economictimes.com

 A child in India normally completes graduation at 21 years of age and below are different scenarios depending on the age of child and funds required for a reputed institute like MBA in IIM-A after 5,10,15,20 years.
In my example i have selected MBA but it could be any Post-Graduation degree. You need to find the present cost today and future value with future value calculator (search in google there are hundreds of websites available) 
Let us understand the cost and investment required with the help of a sample case study: 

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Assumption made while calculating the scenarios 
Current Savings : NIL 
Increase in Yearly Savings : NIL  


Scenario 1 : Mr & Mrs Bajaj, a married couple with a child of 1 year

MBA cost after 20 years at an inflation of 5% would be Rs 51.73 Lakhs. Mr Bajaj would have to invest Rs 5625 every month in an asset class which would provide at-least 12% returns.

Scenario 2 : Mr & Mrs Sharma blessed with a kid of 6 years

Mr Sharma will have to save Rs 8518 every month for 15 years to accumulate a corpus of Rs 40.50 Lakhs calculated at an inflation of 5% and investment returns of 12%.

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Scenario 3 : Mr & Mrs Mehta with a single child of 11 years old and they have 10 years for their child to graduate and in the meantime they have to create the corpus of Rs 31,76,345/- at assumed inflation of 5%.

Monthly investment of Rs 14000 is required which should fetch a return of 12% per annum adjusting inflation of 5%


Scenario 4 : Mr & Mrs Khan with a single child of 16 years old just completed 10th Grade and they have 5 years to accumulate amount of Rs  25 Lakhs approximate 

From the above scenarios it can be said that longer the horizon large the corpus required but with smaller monthly outflow 

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Achieve Child Education Goal with SIP

Child Age	Time Available	Instruments	Inflation	Future Value of Education Cost	SIP required	Rate of Returns
0-2 Years	Over 15 Years	Diversified Equity Funds	5%	4053910	8500	12%
		Stocks
		GOLD Funds
3-6 Years	12-15 Years	Diversified Equity Funds	5%	3501920	11366	12%
		Stocks
7-10 Years	8-11 Years	Diversified Equity Funds	5%	2881038	18348	12%
		Balanced Funds
		Debt Oriented Balanced Fund
11-14 Years	6-7 Years	Debt Oriented Balanced Fund	5%	2613186	28466	8%
		Debt Funds
		Recurring Deposit
15+ Years	<=5 Years	Recurring Deposit	5%	2370237	42034	8%
		Debt Funds
		MIP
		FMP

Reviewing your portfolio 

Once the above portfolio is in place, you will to have review it it at least once you also need to check check whether the amount required for meeting the goal has changed. "The education goal has two components: tuition fee and cost of living. Any of these could rise faster than expected. You need to find out whether the 5% per cent inflation rate that we have assumed is a realistic estimate" 

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Approaching the goal

The investment process is never the same, especially if you are investing for the long term. I have suggested equity funds for those with an investment horizon of over 12-15 years. However, five years before your goal, you should start shifting money out of equities to the safety of debt. Start a systematic transfer plan from your equity fund to a short-term debt fund (average maturity of 1-3 years). Keep in mind that the date of your child's admission for post graduation is fixed.

You can't let a downturn in the stock markets threaten your child's post graduation.


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Who doesn't like a financial healthy life,In case if you want one contact me for Financial Planning, please do drop an email to me at vipuls1979@gmail.com. I would be happy to assist you

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Disclaimer  :-

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