5 Point Checklist for Your Child's Future

Around 70,000 children are born every day in India. The availability of adequate resources during the growth years of the child plays an important role in his/her development. No parent wants to stifle his/her child's growth, but lack of proper planning before the birth of the child can invariably lead to it.

Why Planning Early Is Important for Your Child’s Future

Along with various other reasons, quality education can be a critical factor in deciding the future of the child. With the rising cost of education, especially higher education, you cannot wait for your child to complete primary education to start preparing for his/her higher education. The responsibility that comes with the birth of a child can feel overwhelming. Don't worry, here is a five-point checklist for your child's future.

• Start Early: The golden rule of preparing for your child's future is to start early. And early means before the child is born. There are various costs associated with the birth of the child. Child planning can be divided into short-term, mid-term and long-term needs. Long-term needs like higher education are rightly given attention, but short-term and mid-term needs cannot be entirely ignored.
  

  Start investing in short-term instruments before the child is born to take care of his/her healthcare needs, which are substantially higher in the early years, and pre-school education. Along with short-term needs, one should start preparing for long-term needs like higher education. Investing in a child education plan can help you take care of the child's higher education. Child education plans are generally long-term investment instruments and hence, the earlier you start the better.

• Optimize resource utilization: The cost of raising a child in India is not limited to education alone. Along with education, there are various other expenses like healthcare and extra-curricular activities. It is important to prioritize resource allocation. People often ignore long-term financial goals in the hope that the increase in income over time will be enough to take care of higher education or marriage. Setting aside a part of income for child education plan for a decade or two seems excessive to some people.
  A child education plan builds a substantial corpus with small contributions over the years, but it would require significant resource allocation to accumulate a similar fund in a few years. A resource crunch in the early years can be overcome through optimum resource allocation. For instance, when a child is born in India, he/she receives several gifts from relatives. The cash gifts can be invested in short-term instruments, which can be later utilized to fund pre-school education.
• Take cognizance of inflation: Investing in a long-term instrument for the long-term needs of your child like education and marriage is just one part of the plan. The other part is to invest in the right products. If the investment delivers below-average returns and fails to beat the inflation rate considerably, the instrument may not be the ideal product.Inflation is the secret factor that can derail the best of investment. According to estimates, inflation in the cost of primary and secondary education is 12% and 16%-20% in the case of higher education. The best child plans allow you to invest in equity funds, which can deliver inflation-beating returns over the long term.
• Safeguard against unforeseen incidents: Every parent expects to handhold his/her child through his/her formative years. But life is unpredictable and unforeseen incidents can come unannounced. Even though the best child plansallow funding of the remaining premiums in the event of the death of the parent, there could be several other financial needs. A term insurance plan with a cover of at least 10-15 times of your annual income should be taken to guard against liabilities and take care of other needs. Term insurance plans are affordable and are not too heavy on the pocket.
• Add your child to your health plan: As soon as the child is born, add him/her to your health insurance plan. Most family floater plans allow easy addition of children. The health expenses of children are high in the initial years and a health insurance plan will keep you financially prepared for major health issues. If you do not have health insurance, the birth of your child is the perfect time to get one.

Conclusion

Raising a child can be a daunting task, but proper planning can make it an unforgettable experience. With the unit-linked insurance plan from Canara HSBC, you can ensure quality education for your child without worrying about inflation. The Promise4Growth Plus provides you with the option to choose between 7 investment funds to manage your corpus according to your risk profile.