Global Investments
International Limited

EDUCATION PLANNING

CONGRATULATIONS!! 
You're feeling rather pleased with yourself - basking in the glory of having given the Bursar his final cheque. Your child is now 18 years old and you do not have to pay the school's exorbitant fees any longer...

Now the bad news: University looms! Whether your currency is Dollars, Sterling or Euros, the costs are going to run into tens of thousands. Add to that the effects of inflation and you have enough to make a very serious dent in your income.

If your home country subsidises education, you may think that the costs borne by you will be modest. Think again. In the UK for example, students will only enjoy reduced tuiton fees if they have been UK residents for the three preceding tax years. In those countries, where the subsidy is based on nationality rather than residence, the tuiton fees may be reduced, but you will still have to bear the responsibility for accommodation, living costs and books.

So, what are your alternatives? Well, you could re-mortgage your home. Sell a valuable asset. Dip into your retirement savings. None of these is an attractive option. By far the most effective solution would have been to invest into an Education Savings Plan - there is a number of them, from which the expatriate can choose.

What does it cost?
One year at Harvard, according to the university itself, costs in excess of $ 35,000.-. More modestly, an overseas student at a UK university will face costs of over GBP 13,000.- per year, including tuiton fees and living expenses.

If you estimate the current annual costs to be, say, $ 25,000.-, with an inflation rate of 3 %, the total costs of a three-year course starting in fifteen years' time will be around $ 120,000.-. Assuming an annual growth rate of 10 % and regular premiums made until the end of the course, the monthly investment required would be $ 250.-.

Alternatively, you might opt for a low start plan, with indexation at 5 % per annum. This would reduce the monthly investment to $ 200.-.

When choosing the right plan, the expatriate parents need to evaluate a number of factors including

Security
As with all investments, the product provider should be a major institution, based on a well-regulated environment, ideally a tax-beneficial one.

Flexibility
People's circumstances change. The plan should accommodate this by allowing you to stop, suspend, or vary the level of your contributions. Attitude to risk can also change. It may be that in the early years you elect to invest in funds offering higher growth potentials, but closer to maturity change into more conservative funds. Your plan should allow you to do this.

How the plan pays out
In some jurisdictions, there may be tax advantages if the savings plan pays the tuiton fees direct to the college or university, without passing through the hands of the parents. A good education plan will allow for this by paying annual, six-monthly, quarterly or monthly payments directly to the institution.

Access
Should your plan no longer be needed, for example, through an inheritance or winning a scholarship, you should be able to access your savings and use them as you wish.

When to start
As shown above, to achieve $ 120,000.- in 15 years requires a monthly investment of $ 250.-. To achieve the same in 10 years requires a monthly investmentof $ 650.-. The time to start is NOW!!

So, the choice is straightforward. You can try to find $ 120,000.- out of your income. Or you can make provisions for university costs now and save yourself from three or four very difficult years.

On a personal note, in his ealier ignorance the writer chose the first option. It hurt - lots! My son now has a BSC in mathematics, of which I am very proud. But I still wish I had chosen the second option...

PERSONAL PORTFOLIO BONDS

SOUND FAMILIAR?
It is 3 a.m. and you have just called your onshore broker to buy 500 shares of Microsoft and to sell 1,000 shares of Vodaphone. Whatever you do with your onshore broker, he or she appreciates the fact that you really lose sleep to speak to them. Oh, by the way, when you do make money trading stocks or bonds, at the end of the year your broker will not call you with your tax ramifications. He will just mail you a statement (form 1099 in America). Shouldn't he call you and say 'great year; pay the government 20 % (or more in other countries) on everything you made' ? No, he doesn't, because by this time you have either reinvested or spent the profits. Oh, the time of the year all investors love - TAX TIME!

If this sounds like you and you want to know what you can do about it, I will tell you.

Bonds? Aren't we talking about stocks? Well, the fact is, we are talking a name that means offshore brokerage account, plain and simple!

With a PPB (Personal Portfolio Bond) you can handle all your trading needs in any registered security on any regulated exchange in the world. That means one account, not several.

Have you ever tried buying a stock on the NYSE (in the USA) that only trades on, say, The All Ordinaries (Australia)? Pretty impossible, don't you think? Not really. With a PPB you can accomplish this. One account - several different markets!

Talk to your broker (me) during your day, not during your broker's hours of operation. As a fully licensed broker with the NASD and a Certified Financial Planner, all the advantages you can have onshore are now offshore. Put market orders in to buy or to sell. Put prices to buy and sell too. Receive full investment advice, supplied from many different top sources. Get involved with the international markets from the conveyance of your home or vacation home.

Even from Thailand this can be done. Phone local, fax local, not international, to contact your broker. Get the latest financial news that pertain to you before the market here's about it or, for that matter, wakes up. All the details that you need to know, minimum requirements to open accounts and tailor-making accounts to individuals is what expertise is, so use us - we like that!

We have several statements in different currencies - have one in Sterling, Euro or US Dollars, for all your trades and money markets. Choose your own investments or let us handle that (our job). Our PPB's are all held in tax-free locations and are administered by the top financial companies in the world. Timely secure trading with unlimited choices and the efficiency of a tax-free location is all within your reach. This account will travel with you whereever life takes you. You can have a debit card linked to your account to withdraw money. Establishing a trust to administer all your financial needs is another advantage. A true VIP account!!!

So, if you want to be in it to win it, let us know...

Please contact Global Investments for more information
on Tel. (+66-2) 662-2009 or e-mail at info@globalinv.org.