Hi i have 3 kids (twins 2nd time around ) from last 4 years i have been investing only in PF for all 3 . Now i have some surplus income of 15k per month pls suggest some aggresive mutual fund or stocks . which can help me for their education 15 years later . also i read an article that buying directly from AMC helps me save 1-2% is that true ?
Ans: Hello Ravi and thanks for writing to me.
I only discuss mutual funds in this section. As I understand, you have Rs.15,000 to invest every month and you require a corpus in around 15 years to pay for their higher education. As your time horizon is long, you can consider starting monthly SIP's in:
1-UTI Small Cap Fund-Rs.5,000
2-Sundaram Small Cap Fund-Rs.5,000
3-DSP Midcap Fund-Rs.5,000
Mid and small cap schemes can be more volatile than large cap funds, but also offer the chance of generating higher returns over the long term. After some 9 or 10 years, you can consider pausing the SIPs in the small and mid cap funds and then consider investing in large cap and balanced advantage funds as they tend to be less volatile.
I do not find any goal or target amount. If you provide that information, then I may recommend other schemes.
Coming to the second part of your question, mutual funds offer 2 types of plans, one is called the regular plan and the other is called a direct plan. In a regular plan, there is a mutual fund distributor involved and the mutual fund company pays the agent a commission and hence the returns are a little lower than the direct plan. But mutual fund distributors provide valuable advice to clients on how to structure, rebalance and maintain a portfolio. So the excess 1%-2% returns should not be the only criterion to choose a direct plan.
I urge you to consult a financial advisor who can recommend schemes based on your own risk appetite and goals for your kids' education.