Every Filipino parent wants their children to attend a credible and great college when they grow up.
But not every Filipino parent can afford it.
If you’re serious about building a College Fund, you must remember 4 things:
– start early,
– set aside as much as you can regularly,
– beat inflation, and,
– PROTECT your education fund.
1. Start Early
Usually, when I meet with parents who want to prepare for their kid’s college fund, I tell them that time is an important factor.
Why?
Mas maaga ka mag-iinvest, mas madami kang oras para palakihin ang pera mo.
In simple terms: start investing when your kid is still a baby; don’t wait until he’s in elementary!
Let’s say you have a baby. His name is Mickey. Mickey is 3 years old.
You want Mickey to enroll in UP 15 years from now. By this time, tuition fee would already be at P174,000/year.
Not including annual inflation rate of 4% and annual average tuition increase of 8%, let’s just say that total tuition needed would be P174,000 x 4 years.
So you’d need around P696,000. Sabihin na nating P700,000.
If you started investing while Mickey was still 3 years old, you only need to invest P1,757/month to get P700,000 after 15 years.
But…
If you started investing when Mickey was already 10 years old, you have to invest P9,143/month to get P700,000 after 5 years!
* Hindi pa natin sinama ang inflation at increase ng tuition dito. Yikes.
What to do: As early as now while your kid is still a baby, get the target amount that you’d need for his college fund. A specific amount would be better, but getting a gross estimate is okay also.
This way, you’ll be slapped by reality. After all, we all need a “start now!” signal, don’t we? 🙂
Want a reference? Here you go –
2. Invest Regularly
If you intend to invest for your children’s college fund, do it regularly.
Don’t just settle for a one-time big-time investment.
Why?
If you want to invest a huge amount just once:
– You need a big amount before you can get started!
Needing a big amount before you start is already an obstacle, because:
– it’s difficult to save a huge amount of money; it’s much easier to invest a small amount regularly;
– instead of your money already working for you, it’s just stuck there in the bank if you haven’t invested it yet; and,
– it’s very easy to withdraw money that you’re saving and spend it all in the same day as compared to the waiting time you need when you want to withdraw your investment.
Pwedeng mas mataas nga ang returns kung one-time investment ang ginawa mo…
Pero ilang taon din ang kakailanganin mo para makaipon ka ng P360,000?
What to do: Once you already have the target amount for your child’s college fund, take a look at your budget. How much can you realistically invest per month?
3. Beat Inflation
Now, if you already know how much you’re targeting, and if you’re already committed to setting aside a certain amount of money for your kid’s education, but you tell me that you’ll just put it in a time deposit…
I’d be shocked.
Kung more than 10 years pa ang panahon para maka-prepare ka, mas magandang iinvest mo ito kaysa ilagay sa time deposit.
Naturally, the higher your rate of return can be, the less money you need to invest and the less time you need, right?
Let’s compute the difference between time deposit returns and investment returns:
Because of inflation, the value of your money decreases. And if you’re not investing, it’s going to decrease until you do something about it.
What to do: Time deposits are great for goals less than 5 years. But if you really want to have a bigger bang for your buck, consider investing in pooled funds such as mutual funds, UITFs or VULs instead.
4. Protect Your Education Fund
Maaaring nag-invest ka na sa stock market directly or sa mutual funds or sa UITF para sa pang-aral ng anak mo.
But what if you don’t have life insurance YET?
There are two problems.
- “If you die tomorrow, will your savings and investments be enough to continue your child’s education?”
- No? Then consider life insurance as your safety net while you’re preparing for your child’s education fund.
- “If you die tomorrow, and your child needs the education fund as soon as possible, can your dependents redeem the money as quickly and as conveniently as possible?”
- No? If you pass away without any life insurance, your immediate family cannot get your investment agad-agad. They have to submit necessary documents AND pay estate tax first.
For example, if your investment is in direct stocks like COL:
DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED BY SURVIVING SPOUSE IN CASE CLIENT IS DECEASED.
- Deed of Extra-Judicial Settlement of Estate with Affidavit of Self-Adjudication
- Proof of filing of the Deed with the Registry of Deeds where estate is located. (stamp at the back of #1).
- Proof of publication with Affidavit of Publication of the Deed of Extra-Judicial Settlement.
- Proof of payment of estate tax with tax clearance.
- Certificate of Marriage between spouses duly issued bye the National Statistics Office (NSO).
- Certificate of Death of client.
- Proof of identification of client and surviving spouse.
As compared to if your investment is in VUL with your spouse as the irrevocable beneficiary:
DEATH CLAIM Requirements
Standard Claim Requirements
1. Claimant’s Statement to be completed by designated primary beneficiary/ies or by two authorized signatories if beneficiary is a company
2. Death Certificate duly certified by the Local Civil Registrar over his signature with Official Seal and bearing the Local Civil Registry Number and Documentary Stamps
Additional Claim Requirements (submit requirements appropriate to your case)
If beneficiary is spouse: Marriage Contract issued by the National Statistics Office (original)
What to do: Compute for your own target life insurance coverage. You can do it yourself. Or you can set up a meeting with a licensed financial advisor (like yours truly) to help you out.
Financial concern is different from financial commitment.
You may be concerned about your kid’s college fund, but if you’re not committed to it, what’s the point?
—–Want to get started managing your money/budgeting/investing?
Contact me, your trusted financial advisor, through the following:
Email: liannemarthamlaroya@gmail.com or liannemartha.m.laroya@sunlife.com.ph
Twitter: @MsLianneLaroya
Mobile: 0906 243 5059
Want to request a FREE proposal for a plan that can help you protect your family and invest for your children’s college fund at the same time?
Just fill out this form.