For many first-time parents, parenthood is an extremely scary and daunting step forward to building a family. As we try to capture memories and joy of building our own families, we also face new worries, such as our children’s futures. This starts from the very basics of their quality of education, especially in a climate such as Singapore, where university degrees are valued yet expensive to obtain.
Therefore, saving plans for their education is extremely important, yet can be stressful, especially for first-time parents. However, do not worry. Read on if you would like to learn more about the best education savings plan options for your little one!
What is an education savings plan?
Where education is concerned, quality of education, together with cost considerations, is a primary concern. A 4-year university degree in Singapore costs upwards of $40,000. Hence, parents often save up for their child’s education to avoid taking out bank education loans, which charge interest fees upon repayment.
One option many parents opt for is to store savings in a bank account, but with inflation of 2.5% per annum, the value of savings may erode over time. Thus, keeping a savings bank account for education is a less attractive option. That’s when education savings plans come in handy!
Education savings plans are long-term commitments that aim to provide funds for your child’s university education by a specified time. Therefore, it is always better to start saving early so the monthly commitment is smaller and more digestible. If you start later, you have less time to accumulate the amount, with the result of having higher monthly commitment/s and money set aside. If your child obtains a scholarship or bursary, the money can be withdrawn for other purposes, such as wedding costs.
How does an education savings plan work?
There are many variations of an education savings plan. For example, some are specific to education and pay out a steady stream of money over the years, while others pay out a lump sum after a certain period of time. One thing’s for sure—when you commit to an education savings plan, you are committing to paying a regular premium for a certain number of years.
Why commit to an education savings plan?
- Enforces discipline – While saving money for a specific usage is ideal, sticking to a monthly savings and spending target can be difficult. Hence, using an endowed education endowment plan will enforce discipline and ensure that you save that certain amount of money each month. On the whole, this will automatically transfer the money over from your bank account via GIRO regularly.
- Flexible and suited to your needs – Education endowment plans are generally flexible and individually catered in terms of number of years, amount of money, and monthly deposits. Thus, education savings plans all depend on and vary from individual to individual.
- Other uses for the fund – While the main objective of the endowment fund is to fund your child’s education, you can certainly add on riders to ensure that the fund can be paid out if death, disability, or critical illness occurs. As a result, this will provide greater peace of mind for you, and you can be sure that your child will have sufficient funds.
Things to take note of before choosing an education savings plan
- Monthly budgeting – While saving for your little one’s education is important, it is also crucial to ensure that your monthly budgeting is well-rounded regarding personal retirement, emergency savings, insurance and monthly income to purchase necessities.
- Saving considerations – If you are planning to use an education savings plan, it is important to plan out the number of years before your child enters university, the intended course of study, and the price and total cost of study.
What to note when choosing a plan
When choosing the best endowment plan for your children, you should consider the following factors:
- Returns – A good return is important because the main objective is to save. Hence it would be best if you considered projected returns per annum. However, you should note that returns also depend on the number of years you are saving for. For example, saving for a shorter number of years yields a lower return; for this reason, it is always better to start saving early.
- Flexibility of payout – Flexibility is extremely important, especially if you prefer smaller payouts throughout the years, such as every year or so. Otherwise, you can also opt for lump-sum payouts closer to university enrollment.
- Flexibility of premiums – Some plans offer more flexibility of premiums. For instance, you can choose between 5, 10 or 15 years to save and pay monthly, while others offer the flexibility of paying premiums up to your child’s enrollment in university. This will allow you to stretch out the years taken to save and pay, thus reducing monthly commitment.
Best Education Savings Plan in Singapore
Best Education Savings Plan in Singapore
 | Tokio Marine Kidstart Education Savings Plan with Highest Potential Returns |  | View Details | Apply Now |
 | Manulife Educate Education Savings Plan with Most Flexible Payouts | | View Details | Apply Now |
 | NTUC Gro Junior Saver Education Savings Plan with Most Additional Benefits | | View Details | Apply Now |
Education Savings Plan with Highest Potential Returns
The Tokio Marine KidStart plan is a savings plan with the highest potential returns and guaranteed payouts in order to fund your little one’s tertiary education, while also providing insurance coverage for them. Additionally, a great feature of this plan is that it offers immediate insurance coverage to your child’s future sibling(s)! It also has relatively flexible premiums. This plan includes additional optional add-on riders such as spouse rider, enhanced spouse rider, payer benefit rider, and enhanced payer benefit rider. Finally, it has a noteworthy benefit of having a child benefit waiver which means that all future premiums waived if child is diagnosed with autism, severe asthma, or leukemia.
Features:
- Internal Rate of Return: 1.59% – 4.08%
- Max Entry Age: 8 years old
- No. of payouts in university years: 3, starting from 2 years before the maturity of the policy
- Premium duration: 5, 10 or 15 years
- Additional payouts: None
- Policy terms available: Up to age 20, 21, 22 or 23 of the child
Health and insurance coverage:
- Death: Yes
- Total permanent disability: Yes
- Terminal illness: No
- Critical illness: No
- Early critical illness: No
Education Savings Plan with Most Flexible Payouts
The Manulife Educate plan is an all-rounded savings endowment plan with the most flexible payouts. Firstly, you can pay 6 yearly guaranteed cash benefits, which add up to 110% of the education fund saved. Secondly, it involves a hassle-free application with no medical check-ups required. This plan includes additional optional add-on riders such as payer premium waiver rider (I) and cancer care premium waiver rider (I).
For parents concerned about insurance coverage, this is the plan for you! It provides protection for the child against death and terminal illness as well as optional coverage to secure the education fund if something unexpected happens to you.
Features:
- Internal Rate of Return: 2.64% – 3.69%
- Max Entry Age: 8 years old
- No. of payouts in university years: 4, starting at 19 or 21 years old
- Premium duration: 10 years
- Additional payouts: 2, at age 16 and 17
- Policy terms available: Up to age 20, 21, 22 or 23 of the child
Health and insurance coverage:
- Death: Yes
- Total permanent disability: No
- Terminal illness: Yes
- Critical illness: No
- Early critical illness: No
Education Savings Plan with Most Additional Benefits
The NTUC Gro Junior Saver is a great medium-term endowment savings plan as well as a good child tertiary education savings plan with riders to waive future premiums. It has various add-ons and good insurance coverage, including an additional optional add-on rider for cancer premium waiver (GIO).
Another noteworthy benefit is receiving $100 per day hospital benefit for HFMD, Food Poisoning, and Dengue up to a maximum of 30 days. Lastly, you can also receive guaranteed cash benefits when your child reaches different stages of education, from primary up to university.
Features:
- Internal Rate of Return: 1.67% – 3.91%
- Max Entry Age: 11 years old
- No. of payouts in university years: 3, starting from 2 years before the maturity of the policy
- Premium duration: 5, 10, up to child turns 20/22
- Additional payouts: At age 7, 12, 16, and 18
Health and insurance coverage:
- Death: Yes
- Total permanent disability: Yes
- Terminal illness: No
- Critical illness: No
- Early critical illness: No
Comparison of education savings plans
Choosing an education savings plan for your child is a big decision that will last a lifetime. To this end, we hope that this list helped you narrow down your options. To further help you make the best choice, below is a summarized comparison table of the Education Savings Plans in Singapore for quick reference:
Note: This information is up to date as of October 25, 2021; however, the plans, inclusions, and prices may be different at a later date.
Want to know more about education savings plan? Read: Education in Singapore
