Child Education Planner
Project your child's inflation-adjusted education cost and find the monthly SIP needed to fund the goal on time.
8% is a planning assumption, not an official statistic
Monthly SIP you need
- Future cost
- Savings grow to
- Gap to fund
How the goal gets funded
- You pay in through the SIP
- Returns on the SIP add
The default 8% education inflation is a planning assumption: there is no official education-cost index, and fees at the institution you are targeting may rise faster or slower. SIP calculated using FV Annuity Due formula with monthly compounding (investments at the start of each month). If education starts now, the gap is shown as a lump sum. Results are indicative only.
Not sure what to do with this result?
Ask FinChat, our AI planning assistant, about your child education result. Free to try, no signup.
What is a Child Education Planner?
A Child Education Planner calculates how much you need to invest monthly today to fund your child's higher education in the future, after allowing for education inflation. There is no official education inflation index in India, so this planner uses 8% a year as its default assumption, which you can change. At 8%, a course that costs ₹20 lakh today would cost about ₹54 lakh by the time a child who is 5 today turns 18, and about ₹80 lakh for a child born this year.
The planner works backwards from an inflation-adjusted future goal to compute the exact monthly SIP required. It also accounts for any existing investments you've already made for this goal, reducing the required SIP accordingly. Starting early makes a big difference: a few extra years of compounding can cut the monthly SIP needed by half or more.
Worked example: ₹20 lakh of college costs, 13 years away
Illustrative, using the defaults: a 5-year-old who starts college at 18, a goal of ₹20 lakh in today's money, 8% education inflation, a 12% return on the SIP and nothing saved yet.
In 13 years that ₹20 lakh becomes about ₹54.4 lakh. To build it from scratch you need a SIP of ₹15,200 a month, starting now.
Waiting is expensive. Start the same plan when the child is 10, with 8 years left, and the target is lower at about ₹37 lakh, but the SIP jumps to ₹23,575 a month. Already have ₹2 lakh set aside for a 5-year-old? It grows to about ₹8.7 lakh by 18 and cuts the SIP to ₹12,762. Both the 8% inflation and the 12% return are assumptions, and a lower return means a higher SIP.
How to Use This Child Education Planner
- 1
Enter your child's current age and education start age
The difference gives your investment horizon. If your child is 5 and higher education starts at 18, you have 13 years — enough time for compounding to work significantly.
- 2
Enter the goal amount in today's value
Check what the course your child might take costs today on the institutions' own fee pages, including hostel and living costs. Private professional courses and study abroad cost far more than public institutions. The planner inflates this to future cost automatically.
- 3
Set education inflation and SIP return rate
The default 8% for education inflation is a planning assumption set above general CPI inflation (5.54% in Sep 2026, provisional). Use 12% for diversified equity SIPs. The gap between inflation and return determines how fast you need to save.
- 4
Add any existing investments
If you've already invested in Sukanya Samriddhi, PPF for child, or mutual funds for this goal, enter the current corpus. The planner projects its growth and reduces the monthly SIP required.
Why Start Planning Early?
Starting Early Cuts the SIP
Starting when your child is 2 instead of 12 can cut the monthly SIP by more than half for the same goal (about 61% for a ₹20 lakh goal at age 18 with 8% education inflation and 12% returns), because the money has longer to grow.
Education Costs Rise Faster Than Prices
Education costs tend to rise faster than general prices. At 8–10% a year, what costs ₹20 lakh today would cost about ₹63–84 lakh in 15 years.
Dedicated Goal-Based Investing
Keeping a separate investment for your child's education prevents dipping into retirement savings and ensures the money is available when needed most.
More Options for Your Child
A well-funded education corpus gives your child the freedom to choose their preferred institution, in India or abroad, without money deciding for them.
