Q: I have just sold my house, and have a one-year-old. I want to put a lump sum away for her education. I am 41 years old, with a smallish retirement annuity, income protector and about two months’ emergency fund. What amount would you recommend as sufficient to put away for her education? I worry if I don’t do it now while I have this money, I will not have the chance again in the future.
A: Well done for thinking forward and wanting to make provision for your daughter’s education.
You did not specify whether you would like to make provision for her school expenses or post-matric education or both. Your intention for the investment will ultimately determine how the funds should be invested.
With schooling cost provision, your focus will be more on a liquid portfolio with a fair amount (say two to three years’ of fees) allocated to cash since you want to limit volatility as far as possible when drawing funds to pay for the month-to-month expenses. For the first five years of pre-school preparation, you can invest more aggressively. A suite of multi-asset unit trusts with a healthy chunk (say 50%) should do the trick.
If your concern is funding post-matric exposure then I would suggest you invest in a tax-free savings investment (TFS). The portfolio can be similar to the one I referred to above but, given the investment horizon of 18 years, you can be much more aggressive with the portfolio construction. Remember that TFS contributions are limited to R36 000 per year. I suggest that you invest R36 000 in March in the new tax year. Should you wish to invest more than R76 000 then an unconstrained unit trust portfolio will be suitable.
Investment amount
The amount to invest depends on how much you have available and how much the anticipated fees are going to be. Monthly fees for schooling vary vastly from R1 000 per month in public schools to R20 000 per month for top class private schools including residence. The same applies to post-matric studies. Currently, you can work on a three-year ‘B degree’ at between R150 000 and R200 000 excluding residence. Many other courses are much more expensive.
The important thing is that you intend to start making provisions for your daughter’s studies and that is to be commended.
Any amount you invest will help, do not get deterred by the high costs. I would suggest that you also set up time with a suitably qualified financial advisor and discuss your overall financial situation. Now that you have a lump sum available care must be taken to make sure that all your needs are catered for, such as your monthly cash flow requirement, accommodation, retirement provision, holidays and so on. And, as I mentioned earlier, please make sure your Will is up to date and structured in a way to protect your daughter.
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Source: (Moneyweb, 2022)
