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Saving for School Fees

saving for school fees
Family LifePost Category - Family LifeFamily Life - Post Category - MoneyMoney

Whether you’re at the start of your journey with a newborn, or your children are already at school it is important to have a holistic view of the costs associated with a quality education.

Paul Callaghan, Senior Asset Manager at Arlo Associates, tells us how best to save for school fees – it’s a scary thought but so much better if you start planning, mamas!

The majority of people move to Dubai with plans of saving for the future and building a better, more financially secure life for themselves and their family. Most parents would agree their most valuable asset is their family and it’s their number one goal to give their children the best start in life. We’ve been told that, 41% of parents believe that funding their child’s education is more important than contributing to their own pension.

Dubai is a fantastic city to raise a family. Not only is the climate perfect for kiddies and families to spend the majority of our free time outside during the cooler months, it’s extremely safe and children benefit from an excellent private education.

However, raising a family in the UAE is not cheap and we know the cost of living for most families continues to rise year-on-year. One of the biggest outlays for a family is the increasing cost of education, and the future investment of supporting your children’s development through college and university is often on parent’s minds. We all know a family who has experienced this themselves, and even sassy mamas have had to move their kids to new schools to balance the books. The worst scenario is that families get separated, as mama and the kids return home, with the main breadwinner (aka dad) staying to support them here.

With this in mind it’s key to know the costs now, so that you can plan ahead and don’t ever feel like you’re compromising on your children’s future, and you can stay in the Dubai as long as you want too.

Whether you’re at the start of your journey with a newborn, or your children are already at school it is important to have a holistic view of the costs associated with a quality education. Tuition fees rise as your child gets older.

See below for the potential average cost of putting one child through school, with many families paying even more:

–       Pre-school – USD 7,890 (average annual fee) x2 years.

–       Primary – USD 9,580 (average annual fee) x 6 years.

–       Secondary – USD 11,707 (average annual fee) x 6 years.

–       TOTAL: USD 143, 682

Here is the average annual tuition fees for undergraduate courses:

  • UAE – USD 20,800
  • UK – USD 15,500
  • USA – USD 22,958
  • Canada – USD 11,400
  • Australia – USD 11,300

So, for example if your child is now 8 years old, and you envisage them potentially going to university in the UK the cost of putting them through university will look something like this depending on the course they choose:

Course fee: USD 15,500

Living expenses: USD 21,260

Total cost: USD 36,760

Total cost for 3 years: USD 110,280

With inflation in 10 years: USD 147,702

It’s quite likely the above figures may shock you at first but it is the reality of education costs. With a potential cost of USD 291,384 which is AED1,072,293 to educate one child, this is not the time to panic this is the time to plan! The sooner you start contributing to this pot, the better no matter how small the instalments.

The sooner you start saving, the better, and by planning early don’t have to compromise on your goals and dreams in the future.

If you want to hear more about saving for school fees, or for more information on education planning please email Paul on paul.callaghan@arloassociates.comor or call +971 55 217 0654.

Hero image sourced via Elder-Law.

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