Children Education and Living Cost in Singapore

[forward]

For those who have children, do you really know how much
is required to bring up one child from the day he is born till he finishes his 4th year at the local university?

Some young parents are having three to four children from age ten to two living in a three or four rooms flat and earning only about $2000 to $3000 as a taxi driver or other jobs with similiar earnings. Most of them have a monthly instalment to pay for the flat for the next 15 or 20 years.

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There is a need for young parents with children to
understand their financial needs and start
planning a solution now or else...

 

[mcn]

just dial up a financial planner and they will flock to u willingly with answers ++

 

[JoeJerry]

For those who have children, do you really know how much
is required to bring up one child from the day he is born till he finishes his 4th year at the local university?

(

Call the insurance agent. They would love to help you.
btw, I use AIA. Their insurance plan is good

 

[kenele]

For those who have children, do you really know how much
is required to bring up one child from the day he is born till he finishes his 4th year at the local university?

Some young parents are having three to four children from age ten to two living in a three or four rooms flat and earning only about $2000 to $3000 as a taxi driver or other jobs with similiar earnings. Most of them have a monthly instalment to pay for the flat for the next 15 or 20 years.

-------------------------------------------------
There is a need for young parents with children to
understand their financial needs and start
planning a solution now or else...

Got baby bonus lah! :bsmilie:

 

[Astin]

In reality not every child will finish 4th year in university, many will stop at sec 4...

 

[jsbn]

Consult a Financial Planner?

Well, it always pays to use the services of one. I'd usually go for those independent financial planners working under independent financial houses. Proinvest, Philips Capital, etc... They are able to offer more products across a wider range from all the different insurance and investment companies.

A good one would be able to recommend u really good ones whilst charging a lower sales charge.

 

[Celeste Shuen]

The concise answer is: it depends.

What my financial adviser did with me was to group the costs into broad categories, which included: daily basic needs, medical care, childcare service, enrichment programmes and schooling. For each category, we estimated the amount required based on my girl's age and with consideration of compounded inflation rate. With these projections, we then explorer the options available within each category. Certainly these projections were made based on my current incomes; it makes little sense to plan for expenditure that is beyond one's means.

In general, the largest expenditure comes from tertiary education. For example, a 3-yr undergraduate education at some of the American universities is expected to cost at least three hundred thousands 15 years from now.

 

[Paul_Yeo]

think to bring a child from before-birth to working adult (no longer drawing $ from parents), need at least $1 million? :embrass:

 

[reachme2003]

i am thinking of using the services of an independent f.p. to look into, rationalise, make recommendations about my family's insurance policies, children education, planning for retirement, etc. any recommendations and what are their fees? thanks.

 

[theonlyone]

My suggestion is to separate investment from insurance.

Get yourself sufficiently insured. Then plough the rest of the spare cash into investment directly (buy the unit trust/index tracking funds directly). Don't bother to go through investment link plan kind of insurance. It is a waste of money because part of your money will go to insurance agent.

 

[forward]

think to bring a child from before-birth to working adult (no longer drawing $ from parents), need at least $1 million? :embrass:

It is not embrassing to say that your parents have to spend
that amount to raise one child from the day he is born to
the day he finished his four years of higher education at the university.

Lower income parents may still be able to send their child
to university with a change in lifestyle and stop spending
unnecessary dollars in acquiring materialistic items.

However one can still make a simple calculation on paper
all the basic needs and save enough when the need arises.
Four years in university need about $60,000 to $80,000
for one single child. This is just a rough guide but it won't
be wrong to say one needs a minimum of a quarter million
in total.

So if the parent is having an income of around $3000 a
month and cannot save at least a thousand a month, for
the next twenty years, he is in serious finanical difficulty.

1 year = $12,000
20 years = $240,000

2 children = $240,000 x 2 ($480,000)

3 children = $240,000 x 3 ($720,000)

4 children = $240,000 x 4 ($960,000)

In the above example, the parent will have to work
and save that amount. What happen if only the
father is working while the mother is a housewife?
The father is already 44 years old and has three
children age three to ten and has no savings?

 

[Ansel]

Sometimes it may not do us any good if we "think too much" about these things because we may end up not geting married, or not having any children, etc.

Not to say that we don't plan for the future, but that we cannot predict the future as well as it is made to appear by those so-called financial advisors. Many times, they just want to "scare you" into buying a product from them. That's just my opinion though cos I don't want to be flamed by those in CS who are working as FAs, or who are friends of FAs.

Before I got married, a friend of mine told me he spent a total of $13k to see his wife thru pregnancy to delivery. It cost him that much for all the reqular Gyne visits and the final hospitalisation bill. This was in the late 80s. My salary that time was $1k+. I told myself, no way I am going to have children when I get married. Well, eventually, nature takes it's couse, I got married and now have 2 daughters. I still survived.

Can I afford to put them thru Tertiary education? I am not sure. But there are always grants, bursaries, scholarships, loans, etc that the undergrad can apply for assistance.

 

[arpinkor]

Sometimes it may not do us any good if we "think too much" about these things because we may end up not geting married, or not having any children, etc.

I agree with you, man. Don't think too much. My parents were not rich (not by a long long shot) and still my brother went to NUS and I went to Poly and later to U. One way or another, you will find the means. When you have children, you will adjust your lifestyle and spending habits. Remember, as long as you maintain being an "average" Singaporean, you can be sure there are lots of people out there who are just like you, have the same worries, etc, and most will make it thru life, one way or another, not to mention those people who are below average, who will also find a way thru.

 

[Paul_Yeo]

so, children are investment or liability?

 

[forward]

so, children are investment or liability?

Good question, would like to know the answer too.

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With one child policy for China, wonder if they will change
the policy in time to come as an investment. :bsmilie:

 

[Celeste Shuen]

so, children are investment or liability?

I don't see it as a dichotomy, instead I take it that we are the slaves of our genes; we are programmed to do our utmost for the survival of the species known as Homo sapiens.