A good education is one of the few investments that can be made for a child that will be of permanent benefit. However, building this benefit will involve effective planning and considerable outlay from either capital or income.
 
Typically, the basic fees for a year at a private secondary school work out at over £7,500 a year - and that`s before paying for the inevitable extras such as school trips, books and music lessons. Fees for full time borders - often a necessity for the internationally mobile - can be twice as much.
 
Even more horrifying, the cost of a full time university course plus living expenses can be over £20,000 per annum for anywhere between 3 and 6 years.
 
With foresight, you can use an investment that will provide the growth potential to give you part, or even all of the money, you need to ensure you can provide the best education for your children.
  
Funding from Capital

If capital is available to invest for education expenses, perhaps from generous grandparents, tax efficient investments and Trusts can be used to maximise the return on this capital. The investment return is partly dependent on the length of time before fees have to be drawn down, so the sooner you start the better.
  
Funding from Income
The benefit of saving for a child's education is that investment is generally for the longer term (more than 10 years) and very often made on a regular basis.
 
When saving smaller regular amounts, the best way to invest is through a unit or investment trust. These are pooled investment funds which give access to a wide spread of shares and other securities such as bonds.
 
These funds may be actively managed - where a fund manager picks individual stocks based on a view of their future potential - or passively, where a manager invests in all the shares that comprise a stock market index, such as the FTSE 100 or the S&P 500.

 
Candour Consultancy advises on a wide range of lump sum and regular contribution education fee planning products from the worlds leading financial institutions.