Two Men Raise Two Children the Right Way

Doug 39 and Gerry 37 are expatriates from UK. They recently celebrated their tenth anniversary together, even though they aren’t legally married. A few years back they adopted two children Clayton, now two, and Alexandra now four. Doug works for an international bank in Hong Kong. His contract was originally for 4 years but his position has recently been localized.

As Doug and Gerry both enjoy life in Hong Kong, they’ve decided their family will stay in Hong Kong indefinitely. Doug’s company will continue to pay for schooling as long as he stays with the bank until Clayton and Alex reach 16. But he and Gerry are both concerned about the cost of providing an overseas university education for their children when the time comes.

Their Discretion Wealth Management consultant conducted a full analysis of Doug & Gerry’s situation and prioritized education planning as their number one objective. Doug & Gerry agreed that they would need the equivalent of £20,000 per school year per child starting in 14 years. They made the assumption that each university course would run 4 years and so they would need to generate an amount equivalent to £160,000 in today's terms.

Inflation can be very damaging to future plans and Doug and Gerry factored this in at 3% per annum. This meant that they need to generate a fund of £242,000 to meet their target. Their consultant explained the various saving options offered by different providers and advised the need to commit to a disciplined savings plan to avoid having to meet the future costs out of earnings at a stage when either or both of them no longer wished to work.

Doug and Gerry completed a risk profile questionnaire which determined their attitude to risk as 'balanced' and funds were selected on this basis in line with their objectives. Doug and Gerry now make a contribution of £919/month into a regular savings plan with Friends Provident International, giving them peace of mind that they will now be able to afford the education that they would like to give their children.