When you’re holding your little bundle of joy, remember that his or her future is also resting in your hands. You need to make sure that your child’s future is well planned for. Be it a good education or marriage, your child needs to be economically secure. So how exactly do you go about securing your child’s future? A child plan may be exactly what you’re looking for. But while you’re looking at children’s plans, you need to make sure that the plan suits what you have in mind, and can fit into your budget. The first thing to think about is your child’s need and the time frame when will be in need of money. For example, higher education may be around the late teens and early twenties. You need to look for a plan that matures around that time. But that’s not all you need to look at.
You should also have a general idea about the amount that you will need. At this point, you will need to look at the rate of inflation and how much an amount might be worth in the future as well. After all, prices tend to go up and education fees are no different. A sum that is enough today might not be enough tomorrow – make sure that you land on a safely large enough amount as maturity. Naturally, the time or the amount of investment will change according to the final maturity amount. Keep in mind that each plan has its own features. But one of the general things to look out for is whether the plans you’re look at are self-funding. If you are no longer able to provide for your child, your child plan needs to allow the plan to continue when you can’t pay the required premium.
Children’s plans that allow you to take out a partial amount are not to be missed out on. There may be times of emergency when you don’t have enough cash at hand, and you need to be able to have access to funds. It is at such times that the income-expense circle shouldn’t be disturbed. A plan which allows you to take money out partially can’t be ideal for such situations. You need to place the money back in order for it to grow, though. Look for a plan that allows you to move your investment from your current fund to another – so that you can protect yourself against any volatility in the market. Also remember to look at whether there are any limitations to how many times or where you can move your investments.