Saving for Education

[jaspen]

Sim - don't quote me but is this the group that if your child decides they aren't going to uni or whatever you lose your money ie the money you put in can only be used for further education. ETA - obviously from what Kate said below I have the wrong end of the stick about this

We chose to just put a good whack of money away in a hard to touch bank account and let it grow there - yes we will pay tax on the interest but the usage restrictions aren't there. I also have an old annuity account my parents set up when I was little (like a life insurance) that they paid into quaterly and it reached maturity when I turned 18 or 21 - instead of taking it at 21 I have continued this as its just another method of savings. I can actually close it and get all the money and interest at any time ( of course it would pay out much higher amounts if something bad was to happen (and this element you don't need for kids anyway really)) but it is a savings plan that allows me to use the money for whatever I need in the future without having the ability to touch it on a day to day basis - my plan is to put it into the kids accounts. The AMPs and any other financial organisation (probably not the basic banks) of the world can advise you about things like that.

ETA - I just got a thing in the junk mail where it seems Commonwealth Bank offer some kind of education savings plan which they say can be used for education expenses from preschool up (they are the outlet for another financial institution) and the fact that these type of plans have tax benefits but anyway just thought I'd let you know such that if you are going along these lines it might be a similar option that would allow you to compare and contrast and maybe pickup some of the catches etc.

I don't know anything more about ASG and how they work other than my first remarks but just thought I'd write the other in case it presented an option you hadn't considered. I just know I wasn't keen on paying money into a scholarship mob if my child decided they wanted to do an apprenticeship or the like and I'd then lose all the money I'd supposedly put away for their future when I could save it another way.