Smart financial planning tips for parents: SIPs, insurance, savings & child investment plans

A newborn child is like a gift from nature. It brings joy, gives individuals a sense of purpose, completes a family, and adds new responsibilities to life. With education, healthcare, and day-to-day living costs rising steadily, early and thoughtful financial planning can help parents build a secure future for their child.

Founder & MD, MyMoneyMantra.com, Raj Khosla, explains this concept further, discussing how parents can plan for a bright future for their newborns.

“With a continuous rise in educational expenses, securing the financial future of their children must be the top priority of all new parents. It can be achieved by investing in SIPs for your child’s education, development, and marriage. The key to the best result is 'starting as early as you can'. Having health insurance is another crucial investment to secure one's health. You can invest in the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana if you have a girl child. If you are still left with extra funds, secure investments like fixed and recurring deposits are fruitful for short-term financial goals, such as throwing a first birthday party, vaccination, and other initial expenses,” Khosla said.

The focus, therefore, should be on starting investments and savings early, keeping things simple, and planning for your child's future prosperity. If proper planning is put in place and sensible investments are made immediately after the child's birth, the child will have a meaningful life.

Building on that need to act early, Sabyasachi Sarkar, MD & CEO of Go Digit Life Insurance, emphasises protection alongside savings.

“Welcoming a child is one of life’s biggest milestones, and it’s also the right time to revisit your financial protection. Start by adding your newborn to your health insurance within the applicable timeline. It is also essential to review or secure an adequate term plan for your family... To fund long-term goals, consider deploying a structured Child Savings Plan... Crucially, attach a Waiver of Premium Benefit... Finally, for both term insurance and child savings plans, it is important to name an Appointee as insurance benefits cannot be paid directly to a minor,” Sarkar said.

Taking into account the views of investment and financial market experts, let us discuss several essential financial steps to secure one's child's future. Following these steps can help in securing a meaningful future for your child:

Six essential steps to secure a meaningful future for your child

1. Make sure you start SIPs early with a higher allocation to achieve long-term economic objectives. This will help compound your investments and build a healthy corpus when your child turns 18 to 20.
2. Purchase term insurance (10-15x of your income). Name your child as a nominee and an appointee to facilitate benefit transfer, in case of unforeseen events.
3. Add the newborn child to the family health cover. Do consider appropriate riders in both your health and term coverage, such as paediatric riders and similar riders, as well as a waiver-of-premium rider for future payments in the event of the untimely demise of the main parent. So that your child’s future stays safe even in your absence.
4. Utilise targeted schemes such as the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana if you are blessed with a girl child. This scheme currently provides an interest rate of 8.2%. Apart from this, you can look for child savings plans with unique features and waiver-of-premium options.
5. Ensure you maintain liquid safety. Focus on investment options such as FDs, RDs, and an emergency fund to meet initial expenses. Right after childbirth, do remember, going for a very high amount of debt is not a very good idea.
6. Make sure you complete all legal basics, such as drafting a will, appointing guardians, consolidating nominees, and other basic steps to protect your child's rights. You should also document all essential medications and vaccinations administered to your newborn, so your child can start life in the best possible way.

In conclusion, the final decision to invest and plan for a child/newborn must be made after proper due diligence and discussion with a certified financial advisor. Furthermore, to keep the child healthy, proper guidance from well-qualified doctors is essential so that the child can lead a meaningful life. Hence, following these simple yet powerful steps can go a long way toward providing your child with a happy, healthy, and prosperous future.

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