Singapore’s education system is one crazy rat race with parents forking out thousands on tuition and countless enrichment classes. Every parent wants to ensure that their child does well enough to enter a good university and can eventually secure a job that gives them a comfortable lifestyle. However, after their child has finished their A levels or secure their diploma, and is preparing for their university enrollment, most parents will realise that the university education fees make all their previous enrichment classes look like small change. It’s a pretty hefty amount for a local public university, and it’ll amount to a higher cost, if your child enrolls into a private university. The common protocol that most students in Singapore does is to get a study loan from the banks. What this would mean is that your child will accumulate a debt the moment they start their career, adding on to the fact that it is already rather hard to make ends meet here in Singapore. Following are some tips to help you save up for your child’s education fees: Start Now Everyone knows a university education is costly. But should your child travelled abroad to study, the cost can jump significantly higher and might well be equivalent to the cost of a house in some cases. Similar to how you plan when you are financially ready to have a child, you also need to plan for your child’s future education. According to a Straits Times article, 74% of Singaporean parents start planning for their child’s future education even before the child enrolls into a primary school. You would have more room to plan for your funding decisions if you start your planning early. Though it might be another 2 decades before your child is ready for their tertiary education, it is important to put it into your budget now. Saving small amounts of money over a longer time frame is definitely less stressful than having to fork out thousands in a matter of months. Yes, you might have to make a few sacrifices here and there, but hey, better now than later, when you regret not doing so. Invest Your Money The perks of saving early is that you have more time. That’s right, you will have enough time to invest those money and let it grow, thanks to compound interest! Come up with a plan to invest for your child’s tertiary fund, or speak to a financial advisor to help you out. Afterall, investment can be quite tricky to some of us and we might not have the time to be constantly monitoring the investments. Getting professional advice and help might help you save time and money rather than fiddling with it yourself.