education fund........

During my recent retreat to Perlis, a cousin of mine approach me about investing in Unit Trust offered by PM. It's something about using my EPF and invest it in Unit Trust. I told him that I've done it with a friend but of course, I'm still on the look out for something else for my daughter.

No doubt, I've already set an education fund for her in Prudential. If I'm not mistaken, that was done 2 or 3 years back. My cousin then told me about PM's education fund and took the trouble to explain to me and wifey about it. Of course, judging from the presentations and numbers, it looks nice on paper.Of course, him being an unit trust agent, he has his interests as well...

Anyways, the figures looks good I must say. The returns (on paper) obviously are higher than EPF & ASB. He told me that the average return is about 12%. He told me that the initial investment needed to do this is only RM1000 and I may add RM100 every month for the next couple of years. If I continually doing this for the next 10 years, the money will grow. TO be frank, it is something that I've been looking for quite awhile.

Let's see if I get this calculation right, taking an average of 12% return annually for the next 10 years. If I decide to invest RM1000 and not doing anything for the next 10 years, I will get about RM3,105. Quite low but considered ok lah if I'm not doing anything. It's still more that what is being offered by ASB or EPF. Hehehe.

ANyway, after a quick browse on PM's website about investing, this is what I found:

Why Should I Start Investing Today?

Today's decision should depend on tomorrow's needs. There is a direct relationship between the amount of money you need to accumulate and the number of years you have to do it.

For example, if you plan to have a RM120,000 education fund within 20 years and expects an annual rate of return of 12 percent, you have to invest only a little over RM120 a month. Wait another 5 years, you will need over RM240 a month. Procrastinate another 10 years, you will have to put in almost RM1,470 each month!

Time can be a real asset when planning for a child's education or our retirement. The more time we have to save, the fewer ringgit we need now. Do not let time slip away.

Source: PM

Of course, I've yet to decide on how much I would want to have in 20 years time. Perhaps, RM150,000 is a good target. After all, the property that I recently bought is for my daughter's future as well. hrmmmmm.........time is money eh?

I've yet to decide on this one yet. It's always good to invest in different baskets at one point or another. Obviously, it's an attractive one and I'm considering. After all, with such a low entrance 'fee' of RM1k and a monthly of RM100 per month, I think it'll help in the long run. Especially when she finishes her high school in 14 years time....

time for some thinking........