Children’s College Savings Plan
The cost of college education is high and increases over the years putting parents under financial pressure by the time their children reach college or university.
As a parent, you want to give your child the best start for their adult life. If you’re planning to support your children when they reach university, it may be wise to start saving now.
A Child Savings Plan is a unit-linked savings plan that allows you to regularly invest in a range of investment funds, and once you make your choice of funds, the fund choice applies for the life of the plan.
Who is this product for?
- Parents who wish to save for their children’s future.
- Relatives or god-parents who would like to put aside money for a child’s future.
- Investors who are happy to save for a period of 5 years or more.
Why should I consider a Child Savings Plan?
1. Small regular contributions over a long period can accumulate a large nest egg stashed aside to pay for college.
2. Your savings in the bank are being eroded by inflation. Investment growth will cover the cost of inflation over time.
3. According to ‘Zurich’s Cost of Education Survey 2019,’ over 40% of parents of third level students in Ireland fell into debt to cover the cost of college. A Savings Plan can help to reduce this unnecessary burden.
What are the benefits?
- Peace of mind – By starting a Child Savings Plan it will help relieve some of the financial pressure of putting your children through college when the time comes, while giving your child a head start with college, and their future careers.
- Gift Tax exemption – The plan allows you to maximize the Gift Tax saving by enabling you to legally assign the plan to your child, thus making full use of the annual Gift Tax exemption limit of €3,000 from any individual (€6,000 from a married couple).
- Flexibility – You can vary your payments whenever you like.
- Funds – Wide selection of funds you can choose to invest in.
How much should I save?
You’ll need to decide how much you wish to put aside each month – it can be as little as €100. It is estimated that it costs on average €10,000 per year to pay for a child’s third-level education. The average college course is four years, so it may cost up to €40,000 to put each child through college.
If you saved for your children’s allowance of €140 per month until your child reaches their 18th birthday, generating at least a 3% annual return on investment, you would have close to the €40,000 saved.
Our advisors can help you figure out how much you may need to save, depending on the length of the investment. You can then assign the policy to your child to maximize gift tax savings.
How do I get started?
Fill out your details and enquiry below, and one of our Qualified Financial Advisors will call you back to assist you.
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