The rising costs associated with quality higher education is putting ill-prepared parents under increasing financial pressure, according to experts.

To address parents’ growing concerns about increasing tuition fees and help them find a suitable program that meets their children’s career interests, Nexus Group recently launched a series of education planning seminars. These seminars emphasise the important benefits of putting a disciplined savings plan in place to set a sturdy foundation for their children’s future.

“Most expatriates want to take advantage of the tax free economy and either save money for retirement or for big life events such as their wedding or their child’s education,” said SS Raju, Sales Director at Nexus Insurance Brokers. “Depending on their lifestyle, saving can sometimes take a back seat and as a result parents can suddenly find they don’t have the means to pay for their children’s education. Through this initiative, we want to help ensure that parents are adequately prepared.”

Recent figures from Nexus Group show that the total costs for private 4-year college in the US have increased by 22 per cent over the last decade. In addition, nearly a quarter of students are in institutions with annual tuition feesmore than US$33,000.

“Planning for your children’s education ideally must begin the moment you decide to have a child,” Raju said. “The earlier you start the planning process, the less the investment you will need to make every month.

Education savings plans enable parents to comfortably set aside money every month as part of medium and long term financial planning.With appropriate advice, parents can provide the right amount of money exactly when it is needed.

Nexus Advisors are trained to give this advice.

Many unprepared parents, who want to support the further education desires and needs of their children, so they can fulfil their potential, find themselves having to borrow to do so. This eats into their lifestyle and proves enormously costly.

By starting a savings plan early in a child’s life (or even before they are born), and by ensuring the plan remains on-track with regular reviews, parents can spread the burden over a much longer period and avoid borrowing altogether. Shrewd financial planning advice from a trained Nexus Advisor can make sure this happens.

An education savings plan also offers parents flexibility in the event of an emergency. For example, should the breadwinner in the family suffer a physical disability or death, a waiver of contribution applies, meaning that the monthly contribution will continue from the insurance company.

“Securing the child’s future is always the end objective,” Raju said. “And we work very closely with parents to ensure we give them that peace of mind. What could be more important than that?”