Standard Life has launched a calculator on its Adviserzone1 to help IFAs guide their clients through the process of saving for their children and grandchildren's potential university costs.
Advisers will be able to quickly work out their client's university savings goal by inputting course and university details into the calculator. The information required is:
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Yearly tuition fee
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Yearly living costs
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Year the course starts
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Duration of the course
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Number of years of university fees (if different from duration)
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Predicted inflation rate and investment growth.
Based on this information, the calculator produces a total cost of university figure, while automatically providing the savings totals required by the client, via a choice of:
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Monthly premiums, if the individual starts saving now
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Monthly premiums, if the individual starts saving in five years
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Via a £20,000 single premium, with additional monthly premiums starting now
If the individual can't afford the required premium to match their savings goal, the IFA can manually insert how much they are able to save. The calculator will then show the shortfall, helping them to work out the best option for their client.
Julie Hutchison, head of technical solutions at Standard Life said: "The calculator provides the IFA a quick and easy solution to working out their client's university savings goals, allowing them to spend more time finding the best investment and savings solution for their clients."
A recent study from Standard Life showed that 44 per cent of the UK plans to save for their child's university fees. 58 per cent of parents think the maximum debt their children could leave with is £40,000 or under, including many who think this would be a lot less. This total is well under the maximum figure of £54,0002 calculated in the study.
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