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Having Children |
| ...Providing For Your Precious Ones |
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Education for children is a major concern for parents. It’s only natural that you want the best for your children. A good education provides your child with a head start in life. With the increasing cost of education, you should start planning for your child’s educational needs as early as possible. One of the things you may want to consider is starting a savings plan for each of your children. |
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Ideally, you should start planning once your child is born. By starting earlier, the amount of savings you need to commit on a yearly basis is lesser than if you were to start much later (because of the compounding effect). Remember - if you start saving earlier, time is on your side! |
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To get an idea of how much you need to save for your child’s education, take a look at how much a basic business degree would cost: |
| How much does a basic business degree cost in these countries? |
Singapore dollars (S$) |
| Singapore |
77,000 |
| UK |
180,000 |
| USA |
196,000 |
| Australia |
144,000 | |
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Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
All courses are assumed to be four-year courses.
Tuition fees are those of 2003-2004.
Inflation has not been taken into account for the fees shown.
Figures shown excludes cost of living expenses in all four countries
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1)Cost of basic business degree in Singapore(www.nus.edu.sg) |
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2)Cost of basic business degree in UK, US and Australia (TODAY, 4 October 2005)
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Under the Education Scheme, you can use your CPF savings to pay for your children’s local tertiary education at the approved institutions. CPF savings cannot be used for overseas education. If you are planning to use your CPF savings for your children’s education, do note that there is a limit on the amount of CPF savings that can be used. For details on the limit, click here. You may want to set aside some cash savings if you find that your CPF is not sufficient.
If your children use your CPF savings under the Education Scheme, they will need to repay the amount withdrawn, and the interest which you would have earned in the CPF account if the amount had not been withdrawn. The repayment has to be done in cash, and it will start one year after your child graduates, or one year after your child leaves the course, whichever is earlier. The Education Scheme is a loan scheme, and the repayment ensures that you will have sufficient savings to cater for your own retirement needs.
If you are bankrupt, your children may use or continue using your CPF savings for their tertiary education.
At age 55 or thereafter, you may apply to waive the repayment of the CPF education loan taken by your children if you have set aside the following amounts:
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Full CPF Minimum Sum applicable to your age group; |
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Living expenses from age 55 to 62 (calculated based on the Minimum Sum monthly payout for a member who retires in the same year a bankrupt turned 55); |
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Required Medisave Amount or Medisave Minimum Sum. | |
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| For more information on the Education Scheme, click here. |
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