If your child plans to study abroad in the next 5 to 7 years, the best thing you can do today is start planning. Education fees rise 8–10% a year, and you'll be paying in a foreign currency.
Start with the end goal
Estimate the full cost — tuition, accommodation, travel and daily expenses — then inflate it to the admission year and convert to INR. That's your target.
Step-up SIP strategy
Starting with ₹20,000/month for 7 years and increasing the SIP 10% annually at a 12% expected return builds over ₹34 lakhs — versus ₹26 lakhs with a flat SIP. That's ₹8 lakhs from simply stepping up.
The LRS
The RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme allows each resident to send up to USD 250,000 per financial year for education — through approved banks, with applicable TCS.
Protect the corpus
12–18 months before the goal, shift from equity to debt, and keep a 6–12 month contingency fund separate from the education corpus.