Educational Plans, practical pa ba?

[ms.rain]

my POV naman, if u can put aside a certain amount regularly/diligently or invest it somewhere that would yield at least 4% interest per annum, then don't get an educ plan na. coz that's how much 'interest' an educ plan gives. most importantly, u should not be able to touch this fund. coz sige, ipon ipon, tapos biglang nagka-emergency, kung ang educ plan na iniipon mo ay nasa banko, tendency is you would touch this fund. kung lagi ganun ang cycle, pagdating ng panahon, baka magkano nalang ang nasa educ fund for the kid.

ang advantage lang pag kumuha ng educ fund from a pre-need company is that u are billed regularly, so talagang forced kang maghulog sa educ fund ng anak mo. mas sure rin na hindi mo to magagalaw since hindi sya tulad ng banko na mawiwithdraw mo agad. kung iteterminate mo naman ang educ plan, malaki ang malulugi mo, so tendency is to wait it out talaga.

and also, let's not mix up insurance companies with educ plans. ang educ plans, pre-need companies ang nagbebenta nito. though tulad ng sabi ng iba dito, some insurance policies can be used as educ plan as well, like sun maxilink bright of sunlife.

another thing, i doubt na mangyayari ulet yung nangyari sa CAP before. maraming reason bakit pumalpak ang educ plans na inoffer nila before. one is tinanggal ng government ang regularization of tuition fees, hinayaan lang mga schools mag increase kung how much nila gusto. the things is, open ended ang mga educ plans before. yung tipong you pay for this amount, sagot na namin college ng anak mo, kahit anong school pa yan. hindi nila na-anticipate na tatanggalin ang regularization ng tuition fees, e well computed na sana ang money na ilalabas nila in the future. kaya mga educ plans now, hindi na sinasagot ang buong college education, may fixed amount lang na binibigay each year, and tayo mismo ang nagdidicate kung how much money gusto natin makuha for educ fund in the future. based from that amount chaka kino-compute kung how much kelangan mo ihulog each year and for how many years. 

i am liking the idea of buying a property and eventually sell it to pay for the education of your children. ang disadvantage lang is baka hindi mabenta agad when the time comes, so pano na yan... isasanla na muna sa banko para may pera pangpa-aral sa mga anak? parang ang hirap rin nito. hehe.

[ms.libra]

^thanks for the gifts ms.rain.it has always been a pleasure doing transactions with you.

I just hope tumama ako sa lotto or earn more so I could open another account in Sunlife with you for my lil girl.

[ms.rain]

^you're welcome, bhelle!  oo nga, sana manalo ka sa lotto! teka, tumataya ka nga ba?! LOL.  keep up your odesk, idol ko talaga kayo ni al.  see u around, next time dapat kasama na ulet si yanna. goal ko yung hindi na sya maging shy saken and kausapin na rin nya ako... LOL. 

P.S. dyeta na tayooooo... hahaha. ang hirap ng work @ home, lumolobo talaga!

[ms.libra]

^ yun lang hindi ako tumataya sis

P.S hindi lang obvious sis pero diet mode talaga ako, wala kasi akong exercise eh

[ms.rain]

mga sis, sa mga gusto or nag-iisip kumuha ng educ plan with sunlife, magpa-quote or meet your agents na, iphaphase out na kasi ang educ plans by march 2010.  interest rates have been contsantly declining in our country and sunlife has decided to forego the pre-need business muna until such time interest rates pick up again.  but for those who plan to get VULs as educ plans, ongoing pa rin yun. 

old clients of pre-need plans (educ, pension) need not to worry, new applications lang ang hindi tatanggapin by march 2010. 

[artegirl]

well, wala akong anak, but I still believe in educ plans. totoo yung sabi ni sis ms. rain - mas regulated na ang pre-need nowadays and the benefits are fixed na, unlike in the past na open ended (pre-need company pays whatever amt ng tuition).  1 advantage that I see in educ plan is the insurance rider - I'm not sure if this is offered by all pre-need companies.  this is offered ng pre-need companies na affiliated sa life insurance companies (i.e. philam, manulife, sunlife, etc).  kasi, even if you have the discipline to set aside a fixed amount of money regularly, and the discipline not to touch that fund in times of emergencies, what if you die before you have a sufficient fund?  kung may educ plan, considered paid up na yung plan in the event you die.

VUL vs educ plan.  VUL has better returns than educ plan.  but also higher risks.  what if by the time you need the money, there's an economic crisis i.e. the value of your fund is lower than the money you have originaly invested?  can you take on that risk considering you'll be using the funds for your child's educ?  can you defer your child's educ until such a time that the funds are performing well again?

investing in real estate.  I agree with sis ms. rain.  paano pag hindi agad mabenta?  I think ok lang ito if you are able to investment in commercial property.  pero medyo mahal din.....

some naman are thinking that the money they'll receive at maturity will not have any value anymore.  I think exagerated naman ito.  I was talking to my boss recently.  yung daughter nya is going to college na.  nag mature na rin yung educ fund nya that she got when her daughter was only 2 months old.  yung proceeds ng plan is P80k/semester for 4 yrs.  But her daughter is going to DLSU, and ang tuition na daw is P60K/term.  definitely, short yung educ plan - she's only getting P160/yr vs DLSU's P180K/yr.  but I think it's not bad.  at least P20K na lang yung idadagdag nya.

[yannah]

yung educational plan ng baby ko eh yung sa Generali Pilipinas automatically deducted na sa BDO account ko thats for 5 years na 1445 per month sa awa ni Lord mag 2 years na hulog ko . Tapos nag papaikot ako ng cash ko sa time deposit na in preparation sa pag schooling ng dalaga ko.

[prisma]

I've invested in Philam's Wealth program.

Bali you pay PXX amount of sum every year for 10 years, on the 11th year, you'd start getting interest.  On the 20th year, you'd get the lump sum of your investment + more.  Almost double your money.

[simple_elegance]

Im seriously considering getting an educ plan for my 6y.o and my coming baby. My hubby and I tried saving up in a bank for my 6y.o education, kaya lang nung medyo nagipit (hubby left their family business due to conflict with relatives and now we're starting on our own) nagalaw na namin ito. Halos wala na talagang natira just enough para hindi ma close account. naisip ko if its in a plan, di namin magagalaw and since sisingilin ka talaga nila, your forced to pay. unlike saving accounts na pwede mo lang sabihin na tsaka na.

i have properties din from my parents, pero di naman liquid ang mga ito. pano nga kung di mabenta kaagad, tapos pag nabenta ang cash eh nasa bank din, madali nanamang galawin.

im just looking at my options. ok ba na educ plan lang or yung mga insurance? i have an insurance with sunlife, yung flexilink. I was thinking ok na yun, pero thats something din na pwede ko lang kunin yung interest and gamitin lang sa kung saan nanaman pag nagipit. please help! tia!

 

[ms.rain]

^tama yung sabi mo na kung educ plan, hindi mo magagalaw and forced ka talaga magbayad coz ibibill ka each time.  hindi mo rin pwede basta basta ayawan rin since malulugi ka kung iteterminate mo your plan ng maaga.

if u have flexilink, u can leverage on that for your kid's educ plan. add more top-up to it. kung ang binibill sayo ay kunwari 50k, u can make it 100k instead. derecho sa mutual funds mapupunta yung excess na binayaran mo. OR do u think enough na your insurance coverage? lalo na may another baby coming along.  u can get another one for the second child - maxilink bright naman. para syang flexilink na 5-years to pay and double agad ang insurance coverage mo. so kung 500k kinuha mo, automatic 1M agad your life insurance coverage. it is more pricey though than the other plans since 5 years to pay lang. kung masyadong mabigat for u, u can get maxilink prime instead, same features sila, 10 years to pay naman ang maxilink prime. ang maganda sa maxilink prime and maxilink bright, lesser charges nila compared to other VULs and double agad your coverage. 

btw, if you're wondering pano mo imamake sure na on time ka magtotop-up and regularly mo gagawin to for your existing flexilink since iba naman ang binibill sayo na amount now? u can talk to your agent about your plans. and if i were your agent, kukunin ko na from you PDCs (post dated checks) for the whole year para sure na mafofollow ang schedule ng top-ups mo.  babalikan ka dapat every year para i-update ka how much na your fund is and to get your new set of PDCs each year. hope this helps! 

when ka due? have a safe pregnancy. 

[simple_elegance]

hi ms. rain!

thanks for all the info. im due anytime. hehe.

sobrang nalungkot kasi talaga ako sa nangyari sa savings account ng eldest ko. its reached 6 figures na, ok na sana, kaya lang nagka problem naman si hubby with finances. We had to use it to pay monthly amortizations and other expenses. Ngayon talagang halos wala na.

yung maxilink ba parang flexilink na ako yung policy holder/insured? or parang educ plan na naka pangalan sa anak ko? my agent also offered me sun peso provider dati, pero di ko kinuha kasi at that time nagbabayad pa kami ng condo. which do you think is better?

[Paparazzi]

I think there's value in differentiating pre-need companies from life insurance companies.

1. Before the CAP and Legacy issues, pre-need companies were regulated by SEC whereas Life insurance companies are regulated by the Insurance Commission, who hasstricter standards and regulations in terms of the company's finances and investments.

Because the bankruptcy of the pre-need companies affected a lot of Filipinos, pre-need companies were placed under the Insurance Commission as well.  This is to ensure that they will also comply with the standards imposed on Life insurance companies.

2. Pre-need companies offered to pay the tuition fees of the beneficiaries no matter what the amount is (ex: Guaranteed Tuition Fees in Ateneo - no matter how much it increases). Life Insurance companies pay fixed amounts called "education benefits" that beneficiaries can use as they like (Ex: P500k per sem - can be used as tuition fees, allowance, graduation gift, etc.).

When tuition fees increased drastically in the past few years, pre-need companies went bankrupt because they no longer had sufficient funds to pay their policyholders.  Since life insurance companies pay fixed amounts, they can make sure that they have enough reserves to pay out benefits.

You can check out Insurance Commission's latest rankings to get an idea of the stable companies in the Philippines. http://www.insurance.gov.ph/htm/_statistics.asp

Hope this helps =)

[teeyah]

Just to contribute, pre need companies are now managed by Insurance Commission, as opposed to SEC before. Dati kasi, hindi nahandle ng SEC masyado ang investment strategies ng pre need companies, kaya nag fall out ang madaming companies. But now, under the IC's prudence, hopefully the pre need companies will boom again

[anonymous09]

Hello MOMS !

Now that it's 2011, do you think it's still practical if we get educational plans for our kids?


I already got a few proposals, although I'm still thinking about it.

Let's talk about it here!

[billy]

My siblings and I don't have educ plans pero nakaraos kaming lahat sa college. Hindi kami mayaman, simple lang, and I am amazed how my parents were able to sustain us (4 kami) with only my dad working, govt employee pa.

So, I bought 2 educ plans (from 2 providers) for my daughter. She'll be in her 2nd year at UST, and we have been able to use her educ plans. Nagdadagdag kami every sem dun sa nakukuha namin na semestral fund pero ok lang. At least yung bulk, c/o na ng educ plan. Yung isang plan niya, lump sum ang nakuha namin plus may mare-receive pa pag nag-graduate siya.

Yung son ko, wala pa. Ang laki kasi ng agwat nila, feeling ko pag college na siya, kayang-kaya ko na walang educ plan. Kasi siya na lang ang iniintindi namin.

I understand your fears and concerns on pre-need plans. But there are stable insurance companies na merong products that could answer future education needs.

[anonymous09]

I just wanted to share a proposal that i received last week:

my daughter is 3 y.o. and i plan to get her a 300K coverage. I need to pay 34k annually for 10yrs and get 10% starting the 10th year until the 14th. i will get 50% of 300K on the 15th yr.

Starting the 20th year, I'll get 10% of 300K and every 5 years thereafter up to age 99.

10th year = 30,000
11th year = 30,000
12th year = 30,000
13th year = 30,000
14th year = 30,000
15th year = 150,000
20th year = 30,000
25th year = 30,000
30th year = 30,000 onwards


It includes a life insurance of 2x the face amt of 300K.


Pretty good huh?

[billy]

^Parang ganito pala yun http://www.insularlife.com.ph/surecashforkids/ kaya lang the one you're considering is payable for 10 years.

[[-c-h-a-]]

naku, definitely, para sakin, practical na practical ang educational plan...

mahirap magpaaral these days and dito sa Australia, if I wanna send our kids to the best school, ang tuition would be a minimum of $25k annually from yr 8 to year 12 THESE DAYS. What more pa 10 yrs from now? Saka pano pa yung from kindergarten until year 7?

So ako, ngayon palang, naghahanap na ako ng educational fund and I plan on getting one talaga when I give birth. Napakahirap, at napakamahal magpaaral ngayon!

[betty]

anonymous09, Philam yan?

billy, share mo naman yung quotation mo

[billy]

^sure pero hindi ganito yung kinuha ko nun for my daughter

Plan 300
Age 5
Face Amount 300,000

Premium rates
Monthly 7,527
Annual 77,220
Total premiums for 5 years 386,100

Yearly cash payout for 10 years - 5th yr  to 14th year (10% of the maturity value)
30,000 x 10 = 300,000

Lump sum payout at the end of 15th year = 300,000

Total benefits = 600,000

Life insurance (1st to 3rd year) =300,000
4th to the 15th year = 600,000