Aug 27, 2013 (Tue): Malaysia’s leading financial comparison website iMoney.my has teamed up with South East Asia’s most popular education portal, easyuni.com and web application service provider Piktochart to launch a free infographic guide on how much Malaysian parents should save for their children’s tertiary educations.
The newly-launched infographic compares the average costs of studying in Malaysia against other popular destinations favoured by Malaysian students, and shows parents how to strategically save for a newborn’s tertiary education using a simple four-step plan. Additionally, it also provides recommended annual figures to put into a fixed deposit account for a child’s tertiary education, depending on the choice of studying destination. The infographic can be found at www.imoney.my/articles/education-infographic/.
The infographic is the second collaboration between iMoney and Piktochart, both fund recipients of the Cradle Investment Programme (“CRADLE”) under the Ministry of Finance Malaysia. Earlier in July 2013, the two companies had announced their intention to team up and produce comprehensive infographics to educate Malaysians on personal finance matters in a fun and comprehensible manner. Their first infographic on refinancing was successfully distributed at www.imoney.com.my/articles/a-guide-to-home-refinancing-infographic.
iMoney’s co-founder Ching Wei Lee said, “Financial planning for a child’s education is always tough because it involves multiple factors such as the degree, the country and the university itself. As a result, many parents simply give up on planning altogether.”
“In line with iMoney’s ongoing endeavour to simplify money matters for the common folks, we’ve created a general guide containing a workable approach and the relevant figures to help Malaysian parents conceive a viable savings plan for their children’s education,” Ching said.
“The calculations may be general in nature, but it is our belief that they would go a long way in helping many Malaysians who would otherwise put off the necessary planning until it is much too late”.
“The infographic is a collective effort between easyuni, who provided the statistics, Piktochart, who created the design, and iMoney.my, who conducted the necessary financial analysis to come up with the recommendations,” Ching said. “The collaboration represents an alliance between three local entities with similar intention to help the Rakyat solve a common financial headache, and it is hoped that the public would find the resulting outcome to be beneficial.”
Highlights from the infographic include:
- The present average annual cost to study in Malaysia’s top university is RM33,238; against RM215,514 in Australia, RM195,731 in the U.K. and RM211,299 in the U.S.A.
- To save enough to put a child through a three-year degree in Malaysia, a parent needs to put approximately RM4,653 into a fixed deposit account annually over 18 years.
easyuni’s CEO, Edwin Tay, said, “No one wants to see their children graduating with the burden of study loans hanging on their shoulders. And in view of increasingly hefty education charges, the most viable way to prevent this from happening is to have a long-term savings plan”.
“easyuni.com helps students & parents globally, on what and where to study after High School. Being South East Asia’s No. 1 platform for students and parents to search, compare & apply for colleges/universities around the world, we have helped over 1 million students in deciding on their next future career. ” Edwin said.
