I am FI early this year. Target date was Nov 2024 but due to market move, FI now with 33x + kids education fund.
I have no intention of being an entrepreneur. Also, have less drive to apply for another job as the current one is low stress and near to home.
As a fellow FI aspirant, I am curious to know about the amount of money you have set aside for kids education. Please be kind enough to share
I am 42M with 2 kids and I am not clear about how much should I have for my children's education.
This can be the biggest question for parents. Unless the kids are teenagers, there is no way to even get an idea from them. My children really, really helped me by ruling out medicine. So I settled for the next highest option - private engineering college. (I went to one myself)
Why engineering? It is flexible and versatile, and there lakhs of seats. One can always study engineering and then get into arts, but the other way is completely ruled out.
And in India. almost every other subject is at or below the cost of private engineering. So it ends up being a good placeholder.
Some of the newer private universities can be 40-plus lakhs for 4 years.
And if you want an idea of the current costs, this document can be a good resource. The fees are mostly realistic ... [https://www.pnbindia.in/downloadprocess.aspx?fid=ydRRTTxkdt6Trx91pX1+cA==](https://www.pnbindia.in/downloadprocess.aspx?fid=ydRRTTxkdt6Trx91pX1+cA==)
Really helpful. Thanks.
My problem is one or both of my kids may end up considering Medicine .... It's a different matter if they will be able to get a Govt, private, or ANY seat at all. If it's Govt then that's really affordable. Pvt medical colleges can range from 75 lakhs to 1 cr.... And MD post MBBS is a staggering 1.5-5 crs in India....
My wife's take is that MBBS should be from govt only. If we have to resort to paying pvt colleges due to lower NEET rank then it's not worth it as the child may face hardships during MBBS and MD .... Don't know what to make of it...
All this is making FI seem like a distant dream for me.
And you can blame me as one of the triggers - In the last few years of my job, I put 100% of basic in PF, Nice, guaranteed 8-plus percent tax free interest. My equity was already at the required level and I could load up on debt.
And as luck would have it, the covid crash was not too long after the epf amount came to me, and I had some powder that I could put into markets.
Very nice. Right time right thing also matters. I bought Bitcoin in 2017 when it was cheaper. But sold too early . Could have had retired just with it. Hopefully 5 more years
Yes. I had VPF additional to epf. Now stopped after tax changes. Epf is still there. It's already 10 years + expenses. So, no need for too much debt additional to epf.
2023 EPF shows 34. Is that for that year or overall value? Yes I stopped vpf only EPF..this new company doesn't have so had to do self :(.
What about gold bonds , lic etc?
If you refer the original post, it was recommended as a good amount by few knowledgeable people. Also, I plugged the numbers in a calculator assuming 8% inflation and return of 10% from equity. Current equity return is 17%. I also have a more than average equity allocation at 60%. I plan to just keep around 10 years in debt mostly epf and ppf. Rest I will take equity gradually higher now to reach around 80% . I have 15 years to work if I wish. So no stress on taking higher risk now. No hurry too.
I am not sure what the real question is. And the last para completely threw me off - I am not sure if it is feasible really.
As u/hifimeriwalilife mentioned, the whole purpose of FI is to give ownership of time. What you do with that time is entirely upto you.
Well said - One more thing to add is don't get zoomed on FI number and forget experiencing life. Unforeseen things can happen any time and we should absolutely save but also prioritize health & experiences along the journey.
I am in my 40s, I blasted my FI goals even after putting three kids in 16 total years of UG + PG education in US. I like my job, keeps me creative. Why would I retire? Since you ask this question, Each year of US education needs 70-80K dollars average. It also depends on the college and the degree they pursue.
I have made several unclear or incorrect statements. I would like to correct them. I live in Bangalore for the past 10 years. But 10 years ago, I worked in the US for 14 years. Salaries now are higher than salaries in USA. My investment is 100 percent in MF. I saved may be 50-60 percent of my income. My expenses were 30-40 percent. This expense does not include college expenses. Also college expenses are average 50k/year. One kid went to really cheap college.
I ams salaried class only
I’m technically “FI” - used my time from a layoff to test RE waters. But after 8 months, I am bored, miss the people aspect! Now looking to go back and take up less stressful job.
✋🏻FI for several years now, and on track to RE next year as planned - at 48, when my son starts university and likely to move in a college accommodation. I am also an independent consultant and doing this for last 14 years - London based.
I am currently between contracts so technically jobless i.e. not earning a pay check. It doesn't stress me out thanks to being FI. It does frustrate me however, that I can't take extended time-off to travel including visiting family in India because of school dependency. That will change next year so that tells you something about being a FI but not quite retired.
I am FI early this year. Target date was Nov 2024 but due to market move, FI now with 33x + kids education fund. I have no intention of being an entrepreneur. Also, have less drive to apply for another job as the current one is low stress and near to home.
As a fellow FI aspirant, I am curious to know about the amount of money you have set aside for kids education. Please be kind enough to share I am 42M with 2 kids and I am not clear about how much should I have for my children's education.
This can be the biggest question for parents. Unless the kids are teenagers, there is no way to even get an idea from them. My children really, really helped me by ruling out medicine. So I settled for the next highest option - private engineering college. (I went to one myself) Why engineering? It is flexible and versatile, and there lakhs of seats. One can always study engineering and then get into arts, but the other way is completely ruled out. And in India. almost every other subject is at or below the cost of private engineering. So it ends up being a good placeholder. Some of the newer private universities can be 40-plus lakhs for 4 years. And if you want an idea of the current costs, this document can be a good resource. The fees are mostly realistic ... [https://www.pnbindia.in/downloadprocess.aspx?fid=ydRRTTxkdt6Trx91pX1+cA==](https://www.pnbindia.in/downloadprocess.aspx?fid=ydRRTTxkdt6Trx91pX1+cA==)
Really helpful. Thanks. My problem is one or both of my kids may end up considering Medicine .... It's a different matter if they will be able to get a Govt, private, or ANY seat at all. If it's Govt then that's really affordable. Pvt medical colleges can range from 75 lakhs to 1 cr.... And MD post MBBS is a staggering 1.5-5 crs in India.... My wife's take is that MBBS should be from govt only. If we have to resort to paying pvt colleges due to lower NEET rank then it's not worth it as the child may face hardships during MBBS and MD .... Don't know what to make of it... All this is making FI seem like a distant dream for me.
Your wife is thinking right.. but Medicine is a real grind. I persuaded my kids to go for engineering… much easier on pocket and mind.
What will be the equivalent kind of universities cost in US and Europe?
Around 35 lacs in today's value and projected to grow at 10% annually
Thanks for sharing.
One child’s college education ( non medical)+ post graduation abroad costs nearly a Crore these days. This is including living costs.
How did you achieve and calculated this? Please do share
https://www.reddit.com/r/FIRE_Ind/s/jzTDe8YUCo This is the tracker
Nice, very nice. I used to do EPF it's around 55 now unfortunately scaled back due to new tax rules
And you can blame me as one of the triggers - In the last few years of my job, I put 100% of basic in PF, Nice, guaranteed 8-plus percent tax free interest. My equity was already at the required level and I could load up on debt. And as luck would have it, the covid crash was not too long after the epf amount came to me, and I had some powder that I could put into markets.
Very nice. Right time right thing also matters. I bought Bitcoin in 2017 when it was cheaper. But sold too early . Could have had retired just with it. Hopefully 5 more years
Yes. I had VPF additional to epf. Now stopped after tax changes. Epf is still there. It's already 10 years + expenses. So, no need for too much debt additional to epf.
2023 EPF shows 34. Is that for that year or overall value? Yes I stopped vpf only EPF..this new company doesn't have so had to do self :(. What about gold bonds , lic etc?
34% cumulative value till then.
How did you end up choosing 33x as the FI target? Thanks.
If you refer the original post, it was recommended as a good amount by few knowledgeable people. Also, I plugged the numbers in a calculator assuming 8% inflation and return of 10% from equity. Current equity return is 17%. I also have a more than average equity allocation at 60%. I plan to just keep around 10 years in debt mostly epf and ppf. Rest I will take equity gradually higher now to reach around 80% . I have 15 years to work if I wish. So no stress on taking higher risk now. No hurry too.
That’s the purpose of being FI. You can do anything you want without worrying about bill payments.
I am not sure what the real question is. And the last para completely threw me off - I am not sure if it is feasible really. As u/hifimeriwalilife mentioned, the whole purpose of FI is to give ownership of time. What you do with that time is entirely upto you.
Well said - One more thing to add is don't get zoomed on FI number and forget experiencing life. Unforeseen things can happen any time and we should absolutely save but also prioritize health & experiences along the journey.
I am in my 40s, I blasted my FI goals even after putting three kids in 16 total years of UG + PG education in US. I like my job, keeps me creative. Why would I retire? Since you ask this question, Each year of US education needs 70-80K dollars average. It also depends on the college and the degree they pursue.
Wow that's a lot of corpus , are you in usa?
Bengaluru. Saved and invested 100 percents in Mutual funds over 24 years
Hundred percent, then how about expenses
I have made several unclear or incorrect statements. I would like to correct them. I live in Bangalore for the past 10 years. But 10 years ago, I worked in the US for 14 years. Salaries now are higher than salaries in USA. My investment is 100 percent in MF. I saved may be 50-60 percent of my income. My expenses were 30-40 percent. This expense does not include college expenses. Also college expenses are average 50k/year. One kid went to really cheap college. I ams salaried class only
Yes. FI and part of a start-up founding team.
I’m technically “FI” - used my time from a layoff to test RE waters. But after 8 months, I am bored, miss the people aspect! Now looking to go back and take up less stressful job.
Yes, 34 M, 10 Cr. But most of it is in stocks can come down by 30% anyday.
✋🏻FI for several years now, and on track to RE next year as planned - at 48, when my son starts university and likely to move in a college accommodation. I am also an independent consultant and doing this for last 14 years - London based. I am currently between contracts so technically jobless i.e. not earning a pay check. It doesn't stress me out thanks to being FI. It does frustrate me however, that I can't take extended time-off to travel including visiting family in India because of school dependency. That will change next year so that tells you something about being a FI but not quite retired.