Who will pay the school fees if you pass away?

South Africans understand the value of ensuring our children have a good education. It’s the foundation for their future, the best chance they have of success in an economically tough and uncertain world. If they enjoy a well-rounded schooling experience and a decent tertiary education, then we tell ourselves that we’ve done our best as parents to prepare them to face whatever life may level at them.

Ask any parent, having children is expensive. School fees, food, uniform, sports kit and equipment, tours, excursions ... the list goes on and on. But because we love our children, we make sacrifices to give them the best opportunities.

But what if something unexpected happens to you? What if you were to become physically impaired, severely ill or pass away? Who will keep paying the school fees and cover other education costs for your children? Many answer this question by saying, “that’s why I have life cover”.

The reality is most South Africans are underinsured and life cover gets quickly swallowed up by debts and escalating living expenses. Expensive school fees, uniforms and sports costs get pushed down the priority list when you need to budget for food and rent.

“All too often, estates that we administer have insufficient funding to maintain the status quo for the children’s schooling and extra-curricular activities. It’s heartbreaking to see children having to deal with the loss of a parent and then be told they have to leave their circle of friends at school because there are no funds available,” says Capital Legacy co-founder and CEO Alex Simeonides.

There are a few education protection products on the market, but Simeonides says they have always been positioned as a luxury or tag-on product.

“Securing your child’s educational future is not a luxury but a necessity. We’ve seen too many cases where children’s lives are negatively affected because of a lack of funds for their educational costs.”

To combat this problem, Capital Legacy has launched EduCare. It is ring-fenced cover that pays into a trust to cover your children’s continued education, sporting and general care needs should anything happen to you. The trust is set up and administered at no cost by Capital Legacy’s trustees for the life of your child all the way to the end of university. It also includes LifeStarter cash and a global education benefit.

“While most people understand the value of insuring, for example, their bond, insuring their child’s education isn’t usually top of mind or discussed when planning for the unforeseen. Clients are choosing EduCare because this is what it does and all it does, and it uses a trust, so there is peace of mind in knowing your insured funds for your child’s future are not at risk if something should happen to you,” says Simeonides.

For a small monthly fee, you can rest assured that your child is looked after if you are unable to be there for them.

“We’re so excited about this product,” he says. “We are parents ourselves and we know how important this is for South Africans. We have deliberated on the best and most cost-effective way to solve this problem — EduCare is the answer and is the result of many years of learning and planning.”

In summary, EduCare:

• Covers school fees, school clothes, stationery, food, sports kit, sports equipment, sports tours, excursions and tertiary education;
• Covers all trust and trustee fees;
• Has a single premium with no need to specify each child’s details;
• Covers any beneficiary of the trust, including grandchildren and unborn children;
• Avoids the “use it or lose it” clause seen in many similar plans and pays a cashback sum if there is no claim; and
• Has a continuation option that can convert the benefit to life cover after your child leaves university.

It also has the following benefits:

• An optional LifeStarter benefit that pays out a cash lump sum directly to your child at the age of 18;
• The Medical Studies benefit that covers up to R100,000 annually for the additional three years it takes students to study to become a medical doctor over a normal degree;
• The Achiever benefit of R150,000 if your child achieves national colours;
• The Estate Duty benefit that kicks in if any Estate Duty fees are incurred up to R500,000; and
• The Global Bursary Benefit of up to R5m in university fees if your child gets accepted into one of the top 50 global universities.

Visit the Capital Legacy website for more about EduCare. 

This article was paid for by Capital Legacy.