Child Education Planner

It depends on the fees, how soon they start, how long you invest and the returns you assume. Enter today's school and college fees, the ages they start at and your investing plan, and the planner solves for the exact starting SIP, then shows how it grows with each step-up. The worked example below shows how much each assumption moves the answer.

Yes. Turn on "Child not born yet" and enter the years until birth. The plan then starts today, marks the birth year, and counts the extra years of compounding before the first fee. Starting early barely changes the monthly amount, because fees keep inflating in the meantime, but it adds a year of breathing room.

Once fees are being paid out, a sharp market fall could force you to sell at the worst time. Most planners therefore move the corpus to a safer mix of debt funds or deposits as fees approach. The lower post-investment return shows the cost of that safety, so the plan stays realistic.

Education costs usually rise faster than general prices. In India, school and college fees have often risen 8–12% a year, especially for private and professional courses. Studying abroad also brings currency risk. Use at least 8%, and test 10% to see how sensitive your plan is.

It flips the question. Instead of solving for the required SIP, it runs your affordable monthly amount (still stepping up each year) through the same plan. It shows the share of fees covered, the age at which the money first runs short, the total left unpaid, and how much more a month would close the gap.

Each year's fee is paid at the start of that school year. It is taken from the fund before that year's twelve monthly SIP installments go in. The current year's fee is assumed already paid, so the plan covers fees from next year on. Fees rise by education inflation every year from today.

A lumpsum invested today compounds for longer, so it needs less money in total. The planner shows the one-time amount that would cover every fee. Most parents don't have that much spare today, so a step-up SIP spreads the effort across their earning years. Existing savings plus a smaller SIP is a common middle path.

They behave differently. School fees start early, run for many years and are smaller. College fees start later, are much larger, and arrive after your SIP may have stopped. This planner handles both in one fund so you see the combined cash flow. The chart and table still show each stage's fees separately.

If you invest more than required, or returns beat your assumption, the fund keeps a balance after the last fee. That can go toward a postgraduate course, a first home deposit or your own retirement. The "Left after the last fee" figure shows it at your assumed rates.

Review it once a year, and whenever school choices, fees or your income change. Enter the corpus you have built as existing savings, update the child's age and fees, and recalculate. Small course corrections each year are far easier than a big catch-up near college.