Skip to main content

Investing for education

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)
The arrival of a child triggers a range of emotions in a household. Chief among them perhaps is the need to provide for the child's future. Several parents, who had been happy spenders, seriously consider saving and investing. As the old dictum goes, starting early is the best thing. Most, however, are confounded with the choice of products when it comes to saving for the child's education.

As the objective is to create a corpus that can be drawn down to pay for higher education, the investment portfolio should have both equity and debt. Setting aside money in a recurring deposit is a default choice, but a fixed income-yielding investment is akin to taking a slow train. The need is not for income, but growth, in the early days of saving. Choosing a growth-oriented product, such as an equity fund, enables growth in value, serving the need for a large withdrawal in later years. There are three strategic elements. The first is the allocation of investments to equity and debt, depending primarily on the number of years of saving, before the corpus is needed. An early start would enable investing at least 65 per cent in equity. The second is protection from volatility in equity markets as the time to draw on it approaches. A periodic rebalancing strategy is needed to convert the corpus into debt, before the withdrawal is due. The third is the de-risking of the corpus from any risks to income of the parents, on whom the child is dependent.

The simple product needed is one that has equity and debt, and enables flexibility of rebalancing the proportions over time. A balance fund would serve the need quite well, and can be rebalanced through systematic withdrawals. This strategy may suffer the limitation of being tied to a single fund's performance. The same objective can be replicated by choosing an equity fund and a recurring deposit account with a bank. The deposit provides the element of stability and equity the need for growth. The equity fund can be reviewed annually to ensure it is performing well. A yearly SIP renewed after performance review should be adequate. Spreading the investment over 2-3 chosen diversified equity funds may reduce the risks of fund selection. Redemptions from an equity fund are easy to manage when the portfolio has to be rebalanced.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

 

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Transact Mutual Fund Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    1. Mid and SmallCap Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    1. Small and MicroCap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    1. Sector Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    1. Tax Saver Mutual  Funds  Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan
      2. HDFC Taxsaver
      3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund
    2. Gold Mutual Funds Invest Online
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

 

The space for children's education is crowded, given the emotional appeal. Mutual funds offer specifically named funds to encourage saving for children. These are nothing but hybrid products holding equity and debt, and not all of them do well. Choosing such hybrids may mean tying oneself to the performance of a given fund, unless there is a yearly review. Many of these hybrids underperform and need careful selection and review. There are some who buy their child an insurance policy. The investment is made over time, and a lump sum is paid in future. This might be a wasteful and low-return investment. The child does not need insurance and returns of this product may be undermined by the cost embedded.

The choice of an insurance product that invests and secures the funds for education in the unexpected eventuality of death of the parent is useful. The limitation of such combination products is the investment component might underperform. There is also the rigidity of sticking to the chosen product, without being able to shift into another if it underperforms. Insuring for a specific sum assured might turn out to be more flexible and less expensive.

Popular posts from this blog

What is Electronic Clearing Service (ECS)?

  As the name suggests, it's an electronic process through which money can be transferred from one bank account to another. According to RBI, this mode is usually used for regular payments and receipts, like distribution of dividend, interest, salary, pension etc. This mode is also used for collection of bills for telephone, electricity, water, various types of taxes, payment of EMIs , investments in mutual funds , payment of insurance premium etc. There are two types of ECS , like most other banking transactions, ECS credit and ECS debit. An ECS credit is used by a bank account holder , usually a large company or an institution for services like payment of dividend, in terest, salary, pension etc. If your mutual fund pays you dividend to your bank account, of all probability it is being paid through ECS credit.ECS debit, on the other hand, is used when a company or an institution is getting money from a large number of people. For example if you are investing in a mutual fund sc...
Read more

WEALTH TAX

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300 WEALTH TAX   WHAT CONSTITUTES WEALTH? For wealth tax purposes, "wealth" means property , urban land, car, jewellery , yacht, boat, aircraft and cash in hand in excess of Rs 50,000. CAUTION POINT | Do not think you will have an easy escape from wealth tax by transferring your `wealth' without consideration to your spouse or minor child. Such assets will also be considered as your wealth. HOW TO DETERMINE YOUR TAXABLE WEALTH Add the taxable value of the above assets (computed as per the detailed rules for valuation) owned by you as on March 31 (for FY 2014-15, it will be March 31, 2015). In case you sold your car during the year, it will not be taxable wealth. Deduct loans if any obtained by you to acquire any of the taxable assets from the value of gross tax out for at least 300 days in a...
Read more

Equity Savings Fund

Invest Equity Savings Fund Online   The best part about these funds is that they are subject to equity fund taxation and at the same time are structured like MIP like funds . This new category, equity savings funds , offer a little of everything. They allocate money to equities & equity related instruments, and fixed income. They aim to generate returns by diversification. Such funds invest in fixed income and arbitrage to protect the investors from short term volatility and equity for capital gains. The best part of these funds is that they are subject to equity fund taxation and at the same time are structured like MIP funds.   MIP funds however are subject to debt fund taxation. Investors Equity savings funds are suitable for the following: First time investors who seek partial exposure to equity with less volatility and greater stability Investors seeking moderate capital appreciation with relatively lower risk Those wh...
Read more

How to Pick Top Performing Mutual Fund Schemes

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300   How to Pick Performing Schemes  Funds that continue to stay in the top grade of performance over longer periods are the ones to bet on, advise investment experts   The mutual fund performance charts of the past few months make for an impressive reading. Funds across all categories boast of stellar returns. Sample this: The mid and small cap category has averaged 77 percent return over the past 12 months, with the best fund delivering a staggering 120 percent. The tax-saving funds also average an impressive 51 percent, including a fund which has soared 92 percent. Many of the table-toppers are funds of proven quality and track record. However, there are also schemes that are not that well-known. Some of these have rarely made it to the performance charts in the past, yet, of late, they bo...
Read more

8% Government of India Bonds quick guide

For those seeking comfort in safety of returns, the Government of India issued 8% savings bond once again comes to the fore. First launched in 2003, these bonds are issued by the government with a maturity of 6 years. The bonds are available at all times with specified distributors through whom you can apply to invest in them. Here is a quick guide to what the bond offers and its features to ascertain to check for suitability. What are Government of India bonds Government of India bonds are like any other government bonds with specified rate of interest. The rate is fixed at 8% per annum paid half yearly, or you can opt for cumulative payment of interest at the end of the tenure. You can buy these bonds from State Bank of India and its associates, other nationalized banks and some private sector banks such as HDFC Bank Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd, among others. The bonds can be bought from the offices of Stock Holding Corporation of India as well. They are available in physical form onl...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now