Are you a parent in Singapore who wants to secure your child’s future education?
With rising tuition fees and the increasing cost of living, it’s essential to have a solid plan in place.
Luckily, several child education endowment plans are available in Singapore to help you save and invest in your child’s education.
In this post, we will explore the best options and provide you with the necessary information to make an informed decision.
Comparison of the Best Child Education Endowment Plans in Singapore
These are the endowment plans that will be compared in this article:
- AIA Smart Flexi Growth
- China Taiping i-Wealth Saver
- China Life FlexiCash Growth
- ChinaLife Save Forward Endowment Plan
- Great Eastern Max Endowment Insurance Special (II)
- Great Eastern GREAT Flexi Goal
- HSBC Life Savings Protector II
- Manulife ReadyBuilder II
- Manulife GrowSecure
- NTUC Income Gro Saver Flex Pro
- Prudential PRUActive Cash
- Prudential PRUActive Saver III
- Singlife Choice Saver
- Tokio Marine TM KidStart (II)
All figures mentioned in the following categories are extracted from compareFIRST.
These figures are also based on a 30-year-old non-smoker male paying an annual premium with no critical illness benefit.
We also used the data collected in our post on the best endowment plans in Singapore for a better analysis.
Best Child Education Endowment Plan with Highest Guaranteed Return
Firstly, we selected a category based on the endowment plan that offers the highest guaranteed payout.
If you’re looking to safe for your child’s education, the last thing you want your savings to do is to disappear.
Thus, selecting a policy that offers the highest guaranteed returns is essential.
Now, this is a little bit complicated, but different individuals will have different time horizon to safe + different amounts they need/want to save.
Therefore, we’ve extracted data for those looking to save $50,000 for both 10 years and 20 years.
Scenario 1: Saving $50,000 for your child’s education
Option 1: Annual Premium of ~$5,000 for 10 years with a 10-year policy term – Singlife Choice Saver
| Endowment Plan | Annual Premium | Premium Term | Policy Term | Total Premium | Guaranteed Payout |
| Great Eastern Life MaxEndowment Insurance Special II | $5,000 | 10 years | 10 years | $50,000 | $47,122 |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | $5,000 | 10 years | 10 years | $50,000 | $50,999 |
| Singlife Choice Saver | $4,975 | 10 years | 10 years | $49,750 | $51,000 |
Option 2: Annual Premium of ~$2,500 for 20 years with a 20-year policy term – Singlife Choice Saver
| Endowment Plan | Annual Premium | Premium Term | Policy Term | Total Premium | Guaranteed Payout |
| AIA Smart Flexi Growth | $2,500 | 20 years | 20 years | $50,000 | $45,000 |
| Great Eastern GREAT Flexi Goal | $2,500 | 20 years | 20 years | $50,000 | $48,499 |
| Prudential PRUActive Cash | $2,500 | 20 years | 20 years | $50,000 | $47,469 |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | $2,500 | 20 years | 20 years | $50,000 | $51,005 |
| Singlife Choice Saver | $2,466 | 20 years | 20 years | $49,320 | $52,000 |
We also understand that you might want to save more for your child – say you have multiple children you’d like to save up for, or you want them to send them to have a university education abroad, or even for more specialised degrees that have higher tuition fees.
We extracted data for a $100,000 sum for both 10 years and 20 years.
Scenario 2: If you wish to save $100,000 for your child’s education,
Option 1: Annual Premium of ~$10,000 for 10 years with a 10-year policy term – Singlife Choice Saver
| Endowment Plan | Annual Premium | Premium Term | Policy Term | Total Premium | Guaranteed Payout |
| Great Eastern Max Endowment Insurance Special | $10,000 | 10 years | 10 years | $100,000 | $94,244 |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | $10,000 | 10 years | 10 years | $100,000 | $101,.997 |
| Singlife Choice Saver | $9,965 | 10 years | 10 years | $99,650 | $103,000 |
Option 2: Annual Premium of ~$5,000 for 20 years with a 20-year policy term (more affordable!) – Singlife Choice Saver
| Endowment Plan | Annual Premium | Premium Term | Policy Term | Total Premium | Guaranteed Payout |
| AIA Smart Flexi Growth | $5,007 | 20 years | 20 years | $100,133 | $91,260 |
| Great Eastern GREAT Flexi Goal | $5,000 | 20 years | 20 years | $100,000 | $96,999 |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | $5,000 | 20 years | 20 years | $100,000 | $102,010 |
| Singlife Choice Saver | $4,989 | 20 years | 20 years | $99,780 | $107,000 |
In all scenarios, the Singlife Choice Saver is the best child education endowment plan for getting the highest guaranteed returns.
Even if you end up saving a bit more than what’s needed, that extra bit can really go a long way in your child’s education – maybe even paying for tuition classes or enrichment activities outside of school.
And even if you choose the more affordable option (i.e., saving for a longer period), Singlife Choice Saver remains the best choice.
Not to mention, it has cheaper premiums than the rest of the insurers we compared! (If you break it down, you save about $11 to $35 a year).
What’s more, Singlife Choice Saver is a relatively flexible plan, allowing you to adjust your policy duration and premium payment period based on your needs.
For instance, you can choose between these options:
- Policy term: 10 to 25 years, or up to 99 years old (based on Age Next Birthday)
- Premium payment terms: 5, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, or 25 years
Now, let’s move on to some of the basics of this plan:
- Lump-sum payout for death, terminal illness, or accidental death
- Lump-sum maturity benefit, where you get 100% of the sum assured, and any non-guaranteed bonuses will be paid out when the policy term ends
- Additional payout for accidental death
- No need for a medical check-up
These are pretty standard, but it does have some notable features that stand out.
For instance:
- It has a 101% capital guarantee, assuring you get back at least all your premiums paid for your basic plan at the end of your policy term.
- A 12-month interest waiver for unpaid premiums if the event you are unemployed or retrenched
- Legacy change, where you can change the named Life Assured to your spouse or child so they can enjoy the maturity benefit when the policy term ends
- A wide range of riders available, such as:
- Easy Term
- Cancer Premium Waiver II
- EasyPayer Premium Waiver
- Critical Illness Premium Waiver II
- Payer Critical Illness Premium Waiver II
Overall, it’s certainly easy to see why Singlife Choice Saver is the best choice for this category of highest guaranteed returns.
Best Child Education Endowment Plan with Highest Total Returns
In this category, we listened to our readers and identified an endowment plan that would give the highest returns in terms of their guaranteed and non-guaranteed portions.
This will include showing data for potential higher returns at 4.25% and lower returns at 3% per year.
We extracted data for both, but we didn’t smooth it (take the sum of both and divide it by 2) because we believe in a more prudent way of selection.
This would mean to look at the 3% returns for the non-guaranteed portion, because, well… it’s non-guaranteed. It’s better to be safer than to be sorry.
Here’s the extracted data if you’re planning to save $100,000 for your child in 10 and 20 years:
Scenario 1: Saving $100,000 for your child’s education
Option 1: Annual Premium of ~$5,000 for 10 years with a 10-year policy term – Prudential PRUActive Saver III
| Endowment Plan | Annual Premium | Premium Term | Policy Term | Total Premium | Guaranteed Payout | Non-Guaranteed Payout (3%) | Total Guaranteed Payout + Non-Guaranteed Payout (3%) | Non-Guaranteed Payout (4.25%) | Total Guaranteed Payout + Non-Guaranteed Payout (4.25%) |
| Great Eastern Life MaxEndowment Insurance Special II | $5,000 | 10 years | 10 years | $50,000 | $47,122 | $52,148 | $99,270 | $54,993 | $102,115 |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | $5,000 | 10 years | 10 years | $50,000 | $50,999 | $54,202 | $105,201 | $57,301 | $108,300 |
| Singlife Choice Saver | $4,975 | 10 years | 10 years | $49,750 | $51,000 | $52,629 | $103,629 | $55,569 | $106,569 |
In this scenario, assuming you’d like to save $5,000 per year over a 10-year period, then the Prudential PRUActive Saver III is the best child education plan that gives you the highest possible returns.
The numbers illustrated shows that the PRUActive Saver III will generate the highest returns at both 3% and 4.25% – so prudent or aggressive, this is the choice for you.
Also, you don’t have to save $100,000 for your child, if you’re only wanting to save and obtain the highest possible return, we ran the numbers and found that the PRUActive Saver III illustrates higher returns across various amounts.
Option 2: Annual Premium of ~$2,500 for 20 years with a 20-year policy term (more affordable!) – Singlife Choice Saver
| Endowment Plan | Annual Premium | Premium Term | Policy Term | Total Premium | Guaranteed Payout | Non-Guaranteed Payout (3%) | Total Guaranteed Payout + Non-Guaranteed Payout (3%) | Non-Guaranteed Payout (4.25%) | Total Guaranteed Payout + Non-Guaranteed Payout (4.25%) |
| AIA Smart Flexi Growth | $2,500 | 20 years | 20 years | $50,000 | $45,000 | $61,429 | $106,429 | $67,698 | $112,698 |
| Great Eastern GREAT Flexi Goal | $2,500 | 20 years | 20 years | $50,000 | $48,499 | $60,777 | $109,276 | $68,977 | $117,476 |
| Prudential PRUActive Cash | $2,500 | 20 years | 20 years | $50,000 | $47,469 | $53,348 | $100,817 | $57,538 | $105,007 |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | $2,500 | 20 years | 20 years | $50,000 | $51,005 | $59,308 | $110,313 | $67,249 | $118,254 |
| Singlife Choice Saver | $2,466 | 20 years | 20 years | $49,320 | $52,000 | $60,594 | $112,594 | $67,665 | $119,665 |
However, the winners change when you’re deciding to save over a longer period – 20 years.
If you’re planning to save over a longer period, then the Singlife Choice Saver once again wins – this time for the highest potential returns.
Not only is the guaranteed returns higher, the illustrated returns for both 3% and 4.25% p.a. is the highest too!
Scenario 2: Saving $200,000 for your child’s education
Likewise, we ran the numbers for $200,000 too, just to see if it makes a difference.
Our results show that it’s consistent, with the PRUActive Saver III is the best for 10-year savings, while the Singlife Choice Saver is the best for 20 years of savings.
Option 1: Annual Premium of ~$10,000 for 10 years with a 10-year policy term – Prudential PRUActive Saver III
| Endowment Plan | Annual Premium | Premium Term | Policy Term | Total Premium | Guaranteed Payout | Non-Guaranteed Payout (3%) | Total Guaranteed Payout + Non-Guaranteed Payout (3%) | Non-Guaranteed Payout (4.25%) | Total Guaranteed Payout + Non-Guaranteed Payout (4.25%) |
| Great Eastern Max Endowment Insurance Special | $10,000 | 10 years | 10 years | $100,000 | $94,244 | $104,297 | $198,541 | $109,986 | $204,230 |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | $10,000 | 10 years | 10 years | $100,000 | $101,997 | $108,403 | $210,400 | $114,603 | $216,600 |
| Singlife Choice Saver | $9,965 | 10 years | 10 years | $99,650 | $103,000 | $106,291 | $209,291 | $112,228 | $215,228 |
Option 2: Annual Premium of ~$5,000 for 20 years with a 20-year policy term (more affordable!) – Singlife Choice Saver
| Endowment Plan | Annual Premium | Premium Term | Policy Term | Total Premium | Guaranteed Payout | Non-Guaranteed Payout (3%) | Total Guaranteed Payout + Non-Guaranteed Payout (3%) | Non-Guaranteed Payout (4.25%) | Total Guaranteed Payout + Non-Guaranteed Payout (4.25%) |
| AIA Smart Flexi Growth | $5,007 | 20 years | 20 years | $100,133 | $91,260 | $124,578 | $215,838 | $137,291 | $228,551 |
| Great Eastern GREAT Flexi Goal | $5,000 | 20 years | 20 years | $100,000 | $96,999 | $121,554 | $218,553 | $137,955 | $234,954 |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | $5,000 | 20 years | 20 years | $100,000 | $102,010 | $118,616 | $220,626 | $134,499 | $236,509 |
| Singlife Choice Saver | $4,989 | 20 years | 20 years | $99,780 | $107,000 | $124,685 | $231,685 | $139,234 | $246,234 |
Again, regardless of whether you wish to save $50,000 or $100,000, the same theory applies – you want to get your money’s worth, and it wouldn’t hurt if you got extra cash to help fund your child’s education.
With that, let’s discuss the winners in this category and for each scenario.
First, if you can afford a higher annual premium and would like a faster track to save for your child’s education, you should pick Prudential PRUActive Saver III as your endowment plan.
In both cases, even if you get a lower non-guaranteed payout at a lower illustrated rate of 3% or 4.25%, Prudential PRUActive Saver III gives you higher total amounts than the rest.
Let’s talk about some of the basics of this plan.
- It offers a premium term of 5 to 30 years for single or regular premiums
- Its policy term ranges from 10 to 30 years
- A death benefit of
- 105% of the total premiums paid up to the time of death (but not premiums for supplementary benefits, if any) less any bonus surrendered (if any), or
- 101% of the surrender value
- Lump-sum maturity benefit
I would say these are pretty standard features in an endowment plan, but let’s move on to some of its more notable ones.
For instance,
- It offers optional supplementary benefits such as
- Early Stage Crisis Waiver
- Crisis Waiver
- Payer Security Plus
However, realistically speaking, most Singaporeans wouldn’t be able to pay that much of a premium yearly – especially a huge figure like $10,000 (which amounts to about $833 a month!).
Even saving $5,000 yearly (i.e. $416 a month) is a stretch for most!
So, if you’re willing to pace it out a little more and prefer a more affordable option, you should be checking out Singlife Choice Saver.
And if you think about it, a 20-year time horizon would be great for those considering to fund their child’s university education.
But this is completely up to your budget and needs – so always choose the plan that best suits your preferences!
PRUActive Saver III
Singlife Choice Saver
Most Flexible Education Endowment Plan (Features) – Manulife ReadyBuilder II
| Endowment Plan | Policy Term | Premium Term | Surrender option? | Secondary Life Insured Option | Riders | Other notable features/benefits | Bonuses | Need for a medical checkup? |
| AIA Smart Flexi Growth | 15 to 30 years | 5, 10, or 15 to 30 years | Full surrender only | No | 2 riders available | Premium waivers | Reversionary bonus Terminal bonus | No |
| China Taiping i-Wealth Saver | 10, 15, 20, or 25 years | 5, 10, 15, or 20 years | Partial or full surrender | Yes | No | No | Reversionary bonus Terminal bonus | No |
| China Life FlexiCash Growth | 5, 10, or 12 years | 2, 5, or 7 years | Full surrender | No | 3 riders available | No | Terminal bonus | No |
| ChinaLife Save Forward Endowment Plan | 8 – 20 years | 5 to 15 years | Full surrender | No | 3 riders available | No | Reversionary bonus Terminal bonus | No |
| Great Eastern Max Endowment Insurance Special (II) | 10 years | 10 years | Full surrender | No | No | No | Reversionary bonus Terminal bonus | No |
| Great Eastern GREAT Flexi Goal | 15 or 20 years | Limited Pay over 15 years or Full pay over 20 years | Full surrender | No | No | No | Reversionary bonus Terminal bonus | No |
| HSBC Life Savings Protector II | 3 or 5 years | 3 or 5 years | Full surrender | No | No | No | Reversionary bonus Terminal bonus | No |
| Manulife ReadyBuilder II | Until the insured is 120 years old | 5, 10, 15, or 20 years | Partial or full surrender | Yes | 3 riders available | Retrenchment benefit Premium freeze option Access to cash value (ability to withdraw your money whenever you need it) | Reversionary bonus Surrender bonus | No |
| Manulife GrowSecure | 16 or 18 years | 5, 8, or 10 years | Partial or full surrender | Yes | 3 riders available | Premium waivers Premium freeze option Additional benefit payout upon accidental death before age 80 | Reversionary bonus Maturity bonus Surrender bonus Terminal bonus | No |
| NTUC Income Gro Saver Flex Pro | 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 years, or till age 120 years | 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years | Partial or full surrender | Yes | 2 riders available | Retrenchment benefit | Annual bonus Terminal bonus | No |
| Prudential PRUActive Cash | 5 to 25 years | 15 to 25 years | Full surrender | No | 3 riders available | Policy loan Automatic Premium Loan Surgical & Nursing loan | Reversionary bonus Maturity bonus Performance bonus | No |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | 5 to 30 years | 10 to 30 years | Full surrender | No | 3 riders available | NA | Reversionary bonus Maturity bonus Performance bonus | No |
| Singlife Choice Saver | 10 to 25 years or up up to policy anniversary following your 99th birthday | 5 to 25 years | Partial or full surrender | Yes | 5 riders available | Policy loan | Reversionary bonuses withdrawals Reverisionary bonuses Terminal bonuses accumulated | No |
| Tokio Marine ™ KidStart (II) | To age 20, 21, 22 or 23 of the child | 5, 10 or 15 years | Full surrender | No | 4 riders available | EduFund benefit Graduation benefit Waiver of premiums if child develop specific childhood medical conditions Life insurance coverage Sibling cover at no extra charge | Reversionary bonus Terminal bonus | No |
Life events, even the education of your children, can sometimes be unpredictable.
This is especially so when times are ever-changing, coupled with inflation and rising school tuition fees.
And if you wish to send your child for extra enrichment activities outside of school, that also plays a part.
Most of the time – you’ll need highly flexible plans that match your needs and budget to a tee.
Thus, for this category, an endowment plan like Manulife ReadyBuilder II wins hands down!
As you can see, this plan has the highest policy term amongst the rest of the endowment plans – up to a whopping 120 years old!
Yes, you may be thinking – NTUC Income Gro Flex Pro also has a policy term of up to 120 years but it pales in comparison in certain areas.
Let’s place them side-by-side for a closer comparison:
| Endowment Plan | Manulife ReadyBuilder II | NTUC Income Gro Flex Pro |
| Policy Term | Until the insured is 120 years old | 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 years or till age 120 years |
| Premium Term | 5, 10, 15, or 20 years | 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years |
| Surrender Option | Partial or full surrender | Partial or full surrender |
| Secondary Life Insured Option? | Yes | Yes |
| Riders | 3 riders available
| 2 riders available
|
| Other notable features/benefits | Retrenchment benefit Premium freeze option Access to cash value | Retrenchment benefit |
| Bonuses | Reversionary bonus Surrender bonus | Annual bonus Terminal bonus |
| Need for a medical checkup | No | No |
As you can see, the only differences here are in their premium terms, riders, and other notable benefits.
Let’s first talk about premium terms.
Theoretically speaking, if you’re saving up for your child until his/her tertiary education (which is the mindset of most parents), a premium term of 20 years would likely be sufficient.
No problem here, since that’s offered by both endowment plans!
What about riders? Well, it’s quite an easy choice here – Manulife ReadyBuilder II offers up to 3 comprehensive riders to supplement your plan, while NTUC Income Gro Flex Pro only offers 2 riders!
Plus, the Savings Protector Pro rider acts the same way as the Premium Freeze feature in Manulife ReadyBuilder II, so why not get the latter since it’s already an inclusive feature?
What’s more – Manulife ReadyBuilder offers the Access to Cash Value option, allowing you to withdraw your money whenever you need it!
This can be especially helpful in terms of emergency and changing circumstances – which is more common than you may think, especially when it comes your child’s education.
For instance, you may need that extra temporary boost of cash for those tuition classes just so that your child gets into a better school – something that we all would appreciate.
Thus, you may need to get hold of a larger amount of money earlier, which can be done with Manulife ReadyBuilder II.
Most Flexible Education Endowment Plan (Payouts) – Manulife ReadyBuilder II
| Endowment Plan | Payout Period |
| AIA Smart Flexi Growth | Upon maturity of policy term |
| China Taiping i-Wealth Saver | |
| China Life FlexiCash Growth | |
| ChinaLife Save Forward Endowment Plan | |
| Great Eastern Max Endowment Insurance Special (II) | |
| Great Eastern GREAT Flexi Goal | |
| HSBC Life Savings Protector II | |
| Manulife GrowSecure | |
| NTUC Income Gro Saver Flex Pro | |
| Prudential PRUActive Cash | |
| Prudential PRUActive Saver III | |
| Singlife Choice Saver | |
| Tokio Marine ™ KidStart (II) | Align payout with your child’s tertiary education at either age 18, 19, 20 or 21, 22, or 23 |
| Manulife ReadyBuilder II | Upon maturity of policy term & Access to cash value option |
Now, let’s first consider why you may need an endowment plan with flexible payouts.
It’s simple – this puts control in YOUR hands and it can be tailored to YOUR changing circumstances.
Let’s put this into perspective. Most Singaporean girls would likely go to university at the ages of 19 or 20, while the boys would usually enroll when they’re 21 or 22.
What happens if your kid decides to go to university way later than expected? For instance, going into the workforce first before starting school.
We might be talking at the age of 23 or even 25.
If they want to take law or medicine degrees, this can extend even further with a lot of uncertainties.
This makes the payout flexible an important factor when selecting an education endowment plan.
Or what if they don’t wish to attend university? It’s getting pretty common nowadays, and it’s unlikely that the trend will change in the future.
You might then be stuck in a sticky financial situation where your money can’t be withdrawn yet or withdrawn at the risk of being spent away fleetingly.
In these situations, having a flexible endowment plan becomes increasingly important – and it’s a legitimate concern that many of you have brought up to our partners.
For these scenarios, a savings plan like the Manulife ReadyBuilder II can be useful.
That’s because of its Access to Cash Value option – which is basically the choice of withdrawing your money whenever you need it!
It comes in 2 forms:
- In the form of a withdrawal of bonus
- This is where you withdraw the cash value of any accumulated bonuses on your policy. Your death benefit and future cash value will be reduced as a result
- In the form of a partial or full surrender
- The minimum amount for a partial surrender is $500.
As you can see, Manulife ReadyBuilder II provides you the option of a maturity payout and the choice to receive a payout whenever you wish – truly the best of both worlds!
Disclaimer: Limitations to Our Selections
As a disclaimer, we recognise that there are other scenarios we could have compared, such as having an annual premium of about $3,333 to save $50,000 for your child’s education at the end of 15 years.
However, we could not demonstrate this because of the limited toggle options on compareFIRST.
The only available options for annual premium amounts were
- $1,000
- $2,500
- $5,000
- $10,000
If you are looking for something in particular, head over to compareFIRST to create your desired scenario or please speak to a trusted financial advisor.
The next limitation we have is that compareFIRST shows illustrated returns.
This is should act as a proxy to how much total returns you’ll be getting, but ideally you should use the actual participating fund performance, especially if you’re looking at the non-guaranteed returns.
That way, it’ll give you a more accurate projection of how much you can expect to receive, especially when combined with the exact sum assured, premiums paid, and policy term you selected – which can only be obtained via a quotation from a financial advisor.
Lastly, this isn’t really a limitation per se, but an alternative that you can consider.
If you have 15 to 20 years (or more) to save for your child, consider investing that money via an investment-linked plan instead.
A long time horizon will give you better returns for your money saved while lowering the overall risk you’re taking.
Anything 10 years or shorter is a bit too short of an investing horizon in my opinion, especially if you’re trying to save for something this important.
I mean, 10 years is the average economic cycle. If something happens to your investments at the 10th year, that’s goodbye to the money saved for your child.
If you have 15 to 20 years, there is time to recover from that loss.
But this is just my opinion, different individuals have different risk tolerance, so it’s best to choose what you’re comfortable with.
If unsure, always talk to a financial advisor.
Conclusion
In conclusion, investing in your child’s education is one of the most important decisions you can make as a parent.
With the wide range of child education endowment plans available in Singapore, you have the opportunity to secure their future and give them the best possible start in life.
Remember, it’s never too early to start planning for your child’s education.
By choosing the best education endowment plan for your family, you can ensure that they have access to quality education, regardless of any financial obstacles that may arise.
So why wait?
Start exploring the options today and give your child the gift of a bright and successful future.
If you need an unbiased financial advisor for advice on how to go about saving for your child, we partner with MAS-licensed FAs to help you with this.
