Most important thing my parents can do

Since I was born, mommy and daddy had been talking how they can ensure my future is secured in the best way possible. Before daddy could go around and check for options, they sat together to think about what can they do for me. Without much deliberation, they quickly reached consensus. A good education, they both said, is what we have to ensure for little Ayesha. For the rest, she can help herself.

So daddy's project was to find what he can do to ensure I grow up to get a decent education - and more importantly, feel very motivated from the word go. They both agreed, these days, ensuring decent education requires money. So it was all about how to make sure that is available for me when I needed - irrespective of their situation. Daddy thought about starting to put aside an education fund that would also work as a constant motivation as I grow up.

Dad's first stop was BankWest's kid's bonus saver account. Considering the current days of high interest, it has some attractive bonus rates (10%). After checking the fine prints, it was quickly obvious that the concept of compounding isn't quite uninterrupted - as the bonus account seems to get wrapped up to a low-interest standard account annually - forcing a fresh start on the bonus savings.

Next option was to make a regular investment contribution into specialized managed funds held under my name. However the hassle of setting that up and making its existence for my educational needs obviously clear to me (as that is one of the objectives) made it look less attractive. So daddy looked for a packaged solution.

They first spoke to a consultant from AIG's gold scholar product. While it looked attractive on the brochure, when the numbers were calculated, it quickly turned out to be a rather dull insurance product. The return of investment was lower than even a half-decent savings account. Not surprisingly, most of the money went to the insurance component; leaving hardly anything to support the true education cost.

Then, they spoke to Nafeesa from Australian Scholarship Group (ASG). She started off by explaining the continually increasing cost of education and showed the total cost of education covering my secondary and tertiary years. Then, she carefully stepped them through the product - which is effectively an excellent savings plan backed by a professionally managed fund offering some attractive returns. And since it is a non-profit organization, the estimated return at the time I'd be needing the money looked excellent since they reinvest the capital, the return as well as the tax savings. Without any hesitation, mommy and daddy decided to enrol me in. Having the membership to the plan would mean, if anything untoward happened to them (just in case), or they can't continue to make payments to the plan for whatever situation, my educational future is secured.

What is more important though, is that I will grow up knowing what my parents values most for me. All they want from me is that I am prepared in the best way possible - to give back to this world, what it has given me and more.

What's next? Mommy has commenced scouring the Internet to find the right school for me to enrol on when it'd be time for my pre-school or kindy.