No idea how much to set aside

SINGAPORE - Mother of two Valerie Cheng is prepared to be surprised when she finally finds out how much she will need to set aside for her children's education.

The 38-year-old chief creative officer of advertising and marketing agency JWT said: "It's hard to predict what is necessary, so it's best to consult financial experts. We are guilty of that ourselves and we have to do this soon."

She has an 11-year-old son and an 18-month-old daughter.

On her philosophy, Ms Cheng said: "They need to do well enough but not lose their childhood. I never see the need for them to be top of their class, but I will do what's necessary to help them not fail."

Ms Cheng believes more in cultivating a talent or passion in her children.

"My son is naturally great at sports and I feel the need to make sure he gets to discover the best he can be in tennis and swimming.

"I am more keen to expose him to various musical instruments, for example, to help him find out what he's really good at."

Q: What enrichment classes does your son go for and how much do they cost?

He has tuition once a week for English, Science and Malay.

He also has private tennis lessons once or twice a week and swimming lessons two to three times a week. The lessons cost about $1,000 a month.

Q: How much money do you hope to set aside for your children's education?

Frankly, I don't know. We are always second-guessing how much it will cost, so right now we save as much as we can, without knowing what the future holds.

We try to provide everything we can as we save as much as we can. There's no fixed objective, as to be able to pay for their overseas education.

My husband and I have done well without it and we believe that with hard work and determination, our kids will find and enjoy a fruitful career.

Q: How have you been saving and investing?

Each month, I transfer a fixed amount of money from my account to my son's account. I also have insurance plans that come with investment features, so hopefully that helps.

Other than that, we are not extravagant spenders, so we do have a fair bit of savings which could go into investments or become a pool to fund any education for our kids. Right now, we are invested only in property.

My husband has a bit of shares but not much.

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