savvy can look at child insurance plans that too with a time horizon of over 10 years says swapnil pawar chief investment officer at karvy private wealthsystematic savingwhen there is a requirement of school fees or even extra tuition fees parents can dip into this fund for meeting expected and unexpected expenses ideally a parent should start investing for the childs education as early as the childs conception a parent should start investing for the childs education till heshe turns24 or so and becomes financially independentto begin with parents should make provisions for school fees which fall anywhere in the range of rs 30000 to rs 100000 then they must also be ready for donation or any special fee component if you opt for a regular school in your neighbourhood it will be light on your pockets but if you opt for an internationalresidential school the fees may even go above a lakh on an annual basissuresh sadagopan a certified financial planner with ladder 7 financial advisories says you should always have 23 years school fees in a balanced fund at any point that would save parents from all the worries on the fees frontfor example if the school fees isrs 40000 ensure you have rs 120000parked in a balanced fund or mutual fund which you can redeem if needed moreover if you have such a fund you can always use it for any other emergency but only with an obligation to reimburse the money once you fulfil the need financial advisors recommend sips in mutual funds as the best bet for funding your childs educationthere are a number of child plans and moneyback plans available in the market which typically address this need for covering childs expenses typically a parent gets emotionally drawn in to buy such expensive policies but mutual funds are the best lowcost investment option says jhaveri of transcend indialook beyond educationtoday it is not just about getting the right academia every parent looks for the right mix of sports performing arts and literary arts too the emphasis is more on the allround development of the child this only means earmarking some funds for extracurricular activities such as music dance abacus basketball etc over and above the regular school fees hence the school fees is just the starting point and you have to start extrapolating balances from this pointtuition fees is a regular expense and hence most parents make arrangements for it well in advance what needs planning is the cost related to extracurricular activities most parents today want to enrol their kids in say dance or music classes likewise summer camps too entail substantial costs all this should be factored in while estimating educational expense says narayanan ramaswamy head education practice kpmg parents can look at setting aside their annual bonuses in a liquid fund to meet such expenses