Let’s look at preschool and kindergarten costs:

Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens currently charge $160 a month (half-day) for Singapore Citizens, and $320 a month for Permanent Residents. For full-day services, monthly fees are capped at $395 per month.

(However, some Singapore Citizens can apply for a $150 monthly subsidy under KCare – check here to see if you’re eligible).

With private kindergartens and preschools however, costs are highly variable. There’s no real way to give you a reasonable “range” – some of the most high-end schools have fees that reach $6,370.25 for 10 weeks (full-day).

As a loose rule of thumb, however, we estimate private kindergartens to cost between $800 to $2,000 per month.

MOE Kindergartens: $160/month x 24 months = $3840

Private Kindergartens: $800 - $2000/month x 24 months = $48,000

These are the typical monthly school fees you can expect in Singapore, as of 2021:

The cost of a university education will vary significantly, based on the chosen course. For example, Business courses at NUS currently cost $32,250 per year, while Music courses are about $123,750.

As of 2021, average annual course fees for various universities are as follows:

Assuming a three to four-year course, a university education will range between $43,152 to $93,076 for most Singaporeans.

That said, MOE does provide a Tuition Grant Scheme, which will usually reduce the cost by about 50 per cent (for citizens).

All Singapore Citizens receive the grant automatically; Permanent Residents and foreigners can apply for the grant, but there may be additional conditions (such as having to work in a Singapore-based firm for a given duration, after graduation). Grants are also reduced for Permanent Residents and foreigners.

You can get the grant information for your given course and institute from the MOE website.

Course fees tend to rise over time due to various factors. You can use this inflation calculator as a guide to estimate costs according to your child’s intended year of enrolment.

Take stock of your existing savings and investments, and identify any shortfalls when it comes to your child’s education.

Thanks to heavy subsidies from Primary to Pre-university, the main educational cost for most Singapore Citizens will be university education. This typically takes place at ages 18 to 21.

As such, you should try to project how much your savings and investments will grow by that time. For example:

Say your child is currently 11 years old. You expect him to enrol in a university at age 21. You estimate a cost of $50,000, for a course of her interest.

You currently have a savings plan with $10,000, and you contribute $2,400 annually. It grows at three per cent per annum:

It grows at three per cent per annum:

This would come to around $41,441 after 10 years, or a shortfall of about $8,559. As such, you may want to increase your annual contributions, or find an investment solution that offers a higher interest rate.

If you need help getting a sufficient amount, you can consider starting a savings plan early or look at alternative investment solutions.

Besides ensuring your plans will achieve the required amount, also make certain the monies are readily available at the right time!

There’s not much point if the money ends up stuck in a fixed deposit, or an investment with a maturity date that’s too late. Do take note of when and how you can withdraw the money, when it’s time for your child’s studies to begin.

Try to save 15 to 20 per cent more than the required educational fees to cater for:

• Change of educational goals, such as switching to a more expensive course of study, or choosing a double major
• Disruptions in study, such as due to medical emergencies, which may
• delay the graduation timelines

If all goes well and you don’t need the contingency plan, the excess amount can be re-invested elsewhere, or used for expenses such as on-campus accommodation and transport.

*If you can repay the entire loan before your child graduates, there is no interest on the loan

**Using your CPF is not technically a “loan”, in that all repayments are going back to your own CPF account. CPF has an online calculator that provides the repayment amounts for your loan

***Bank loans vary significantly, with a range of interest rates, maximum loan amounts, processing fees, etc. Check the terms and conditions of the specific loan package.

**** Note that the interest rate while you’re studying can be different from the interest rate after graduation.

However you choose to pay your child’s education / education loan, remember to maintain cash flow and emergency savings. You can follow the 50-30-20 rule as a guideline:

This means 50 per cent of your monthly income should go to necessities, such as the home loan, education loan, food, etc.

The next 20 per cent should be saved (or if you have hit a target savings of six months of your expenses, invest it instead). The remaining30 per cent can be spent on various wants.

It’s important to ensure you have six months of expenses saved, so that your child’s education is not interrupted in the event of reduced income, changing jobs, etc.

Financial planning is not a one-off process. Review the plan at the end of each year, and let your child pitch in. Remember that they may have a change of heart; such as deciding to start work before getting a degree, or wanting to take up a different course of education.

You will have to adapt your budget and savings plans, as they grow older and their intentions change. Likewise, changing life circumstances – such as your own income level – may necessitate tweaks to the overall plan.

We’d all love to provide for our child’s entire education; but realistically, some of the more expensive courses may be out of the budget. In these instances, have a conversation early with the child to explore options – perhaps they can start working part time to save up. Alternatively, they can repay the loans after graduating. Have a conversation early with your child, if there’s a chance they have to pitch in.

This could mean working part-time through university, or agreeing to pay off part of the monthly loan after graduation. This is, after all, better than not being able to afford the course at all (or having to drop out part way, because the fees are unsustainable).

It is never too early to start planning for your child’s education. Start preparing now and find the right investments to suit your family’s needs.

There isn’t a clear answer to this, as weddings can range from the very simple – even under $5,000 – to lavish, six-digit affairs. What has been reported, however, is that in 2018 Singaporeans spent an average of $58,000 on their wedding.

The cost will ultimately vary depending on what your children want; be it a large banquet in a five-star hotel, or just a small private gathering of friends and family.

That’s expensive…what about getting their home instead?

For most Singaporeans, it’s unrealistic to try and pay for their children’s entire home. However, what you can do is help with the initial down payment, which is what most couples struggle with:

As of end-May 2021, the average prices of flats island-wide are:

• 3-room flat: $355,005
• 4-room flat: $512,469
• 5-room flat: $597,965

The HDB loan provides up to 90 per cent financing, so the minimum down payment your children will face is 10 per cent. This comes to:

• $35,500.50 for a 3-room
• $51,246.90 for a 4-room
• $59,796.50 for a 5-room

Note that your children can pay this in either cash or CPF – so you may not need to cover the full amount. You gift may only need to cover any shortfall faced by the couple.

However, your children must also meet income requirements. The HDB loan repayments cannot exceed 30 per cent of their combined monthly income. Failure to do so may mean having to get a smaller flat, or making a bigger down payment (a good reason to save more if you can)

1.Start early, don’t wait till just before the wedding / home purchase

2.Explain where you can or can’t help

3.Prioritise the expenses

4.Determine if existing savings plans can meet the amount

5.Consider helping with repayments instead

The earlier your start, the easier it is to cover your children’s wedding or housing down payment.

Consider, for example, a savings plan that accumulates at three per cent per annum. Say you set aside $500 a month, for five years prior to the wedding or home purchase:

You would have about $32,323 by the time your children get married, or need to buy their home. This is enough to cover a more budget friendly wedding, or almost enough to cover their down payment on a 3-room flat.

However, consider the effects if you start just three years earlier:

This comes to around $54,173; enough to cover the entire wedding even with a five-star hotel banquet. It will also suffice to cover the down payment of a 4-room flat.

If you start saving this way when your child is 18, you have a chance of reaching this amount by the time they’re 26 – which appears to be the average age where many Singaporeans get married. That said, there is no right timing as to when they will get married; so don’t fixate too much on the exact age.

You can set aside less if you start earlier, making it easier for you to save for your big gift.

It may not be realistic to try and cover all the costs for your children, especially if you’re on a tight budget. As such, you may want to have a talk with your children, to explain how much you can contribute.

This will help your children to plan their own savings and investments. Your children can also work out their wedding or housing goals with greater clarity

With regard to the wedding, the costs are varied. As such, you may want to prioritise what you’ll help to pay for. A typical order of priority would be:

• Cover the dowry, engagement, and wedding bands (you don’t want your children to end up using credit cards or loans for this)
• Budget to cover the banquet, as it’s the main cost
• Aim to cover miscellaneous costs like the wedding car and flowers last, if you can stretch that far; odds are your children can afford these on their own

Do this even if you aim to cover the entire wedding. It will ensure the most important costs are covered, in the event that you fall short.

Some parents will prioritise the down payment of their children’s home over the wedding, believing they should buy their flat before they get married.

Take stock of your endowment plans, stock portfolios, unit trust funds, etc. Although past performance is not a guarantee of future returns, try to assess how likely are you to reach the target amounts?

If you’re likely to fall short, you may need to set aside more, or tweak your portfolio for better returns.

If it’s already too late (e.g., the wedding or home purchase is in a few months), there’s still a way you can help.

This is to help your children with any loan repayments for their home, or from their wedding expenses. Some parents may, as a gift, cover these repayments for a time (e.g., for the first year), or up to a given sum. Particularly generous parents may aim to help repay the entire loan.

To help in this way, you should work out what’s sustainable to you. As a rule of thumb, your expenses should not exceed 50 per cent of your monthly income – inclusive of your other loans.

For example, say you make $5,000 per month, ensure that your other expenses (groceries, utility bills, loan repayments, etc.) plus the intended contribution to your child’s loan repayments do not exceed $2,500.

As far as possible though, it’s best to help meet the targeted sums with early savings. It’s always better if your children can avoid using loans for their wedding.

As with any form of financial planning, you should review the plan at the end of each year. This is to accommodate for any possible changes.

For example, your child may express the desire for a smaller and more intimate wedding (not everyone wants to stand on a stage in a hotel ballroom!) Your children may also have different priorities – for example, some children want to own a home before they get married. This could mean shifting the emphasis to a housing gift, rather than a wedding gift.

In these instances, don’t be afraid to change your mind, and alter the target amounts. Besides this, do keep an eye on the savings products you’re using, or other investment plans. If the returns are sub-par, or the returns are below expectations, it’s important to find out why.

Find flexible investment solutions to suit your evolving needs and help give your child a head start in life.