Completely different issues. One is for your child and the other for yourself. You need both.

True mmarto, however along the course of life you may end up forgetting what it was meant for when you meet some challenges. In other words you may lose focus on the intention of buying it in the first place and finding yourself selling it to cover for other costs or consideration.

@ GG, I agree there are two different issues..But was looking at the private pension the same way you would buy land to 'secure' a child education policy as @ mmarto has said ..

I am particularly keen on pension coz it's accessible with no time limits of maturity and stringent conditions in case of 'early' withdrawal etc , there no penalties in case of defaulting on monthly contribution unlike the insurance policy where if you default before a certain number of years(2-3 yrs) then you can withdraw your money but with no interest


I basically need to know the merits of investing in an education policy vis-a-vis other ways of doing the same be in through pension etc..


Cheers

Raszag, you are correct. You can access your pension contribution share 100% after leaving the employer plus 50% employer contribution; AND another 25% if you demonstrate real economic hardships (e.g., like need for money to address medication needs). Also, if you migrate out of the country (with evidence of immigrations), then you can get both your contribution plus employer contribution.

like GG said you need both but since i have not done an IPO I will limit to the pros and cons of pension
Personal pension fund-pros
1.you get to reduce the amount of income tax you pay if you don't exceed 20k per month.(i.e.taxable income=gross salary-pension contribution)
2. pension fund income is usually earns tax free interest
3. pension fund pay much better interest than education policy-Jubilee paid 12.75 for last year(usual rate 8%) on its personal pension fund
4. pension cannot be attached by your creditors
5. with pension no penalties for defaulting
Pension fund-cons
1.if you withdraw too early you lose the tax benefits-consult on this to get the income tax relief per year is 48k per year?
2. pension is long-term for your retirement-the early starters get the power of compound interest
Finally like i said it's not good idea to co-mingle funds but i would advise set up pension fund for your retirement and top up your normal contribution with the cash you want to save for the child and enjoy power of compound interest. Don't delay. Don't buy plots you will get too attached to sell