The cost of education, especially higher education, is increasing day by day. As parents, it is natural to want the very best for your child – the best schooling, best opportunities in life, etc. Education is one of the best gifts your children can receive.

We want our kids to go to the top schools for their chosen fields. Even though education is the most important priority, the costs are a major concern. Hence, a financial plan to achieve this goal is very important. If you already have children, the earlier you start planning, the better.

Especially if you want your child to attend good institutions and abroad. You must begin planning soon as the education costs are only on the rise. The more you delay, the higher would be the chances of either accumulating insufficient corpus or straining your finances in process.

Consider investing in equity mutual funds if you are over 5 years away from your goal. In terms of returns, equity as an asst class has consistently outperformed both inflation and other asset classes by a wide margin over the long term.

Here is an example of rising education costs. 

In April, 2016, tuition fee for undergraduate education in IITs was increased from Rs 90,000 per annum to Rs 2 lakh per annum. Similarly, a medical, engineering or a management course costs anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh in India today, while the cost goes up to Rs 50 lakh for similar courses abroad.