Definitions

Age of children
The current age of your children. This calculator is based on your children beginning their college education at age 18. The difference between their current age and 18 is the number of years you have to save.

Annual tuition
The current estimated cost of one year of tuition and books. This amount should be per child and be specific to the University they may be interested in attending. The average published costs for a UK University, for the 2008-09 school year, including tuition, room and board, books, supplies, transportation and other personal expenses.

For the purposes of this calculator all expenses are assumed to be due at the end of the year.

Room and board
The current estimated cost of one-year room and board. Like tuition and books, this amount should be per child and specific to the school they may be interested in attending. For the purposes of this calculator, all expenses are assumed to be due at the end of the year.

Some things that you may need to budget for will include:

• Accommodation
• Food
• Clothing
• Other personal requirements
• Books
• Stationery
• Any special equipment
• Travel to and from University
• Research expenses (e.g. fieldwork or travel)
• Inflation and fluctuations in exchange rates

For the academic year 2008-09, a reasonable estimate for a single student spending 12 months in a typical University living in college accommodation or in a shared house should allow between ??10,500 and ??13,000 to cover living expenses. This is our suggested budget:

Education cost inflation
This is the percentage that you expect educational costs to increase per year. Data provided by " UK Trends in College Pricing 2007" put tuition, room and board increases at approximately 2% per year, for the last ten years.

Current amount
The total amount you currently have saved for your child's (or children's) education.

Monthly contributions
The dollar amount you plan to save per month toward your child's (or children's) education. All amounts are assumed to be added to your account at the beginning of the month.

Rate of return
This is the annually compounded rate of return you expect from your investments. This will also be the rate used if you end up with a negative balance, and need to borrow money to meet your goal. The actual rate of return is largely dependent on the type of investments you select. From January 1970 to December 2007, the average compounded rate of return for the S&P 500, including reinvestment of dividends, was approximately 11.4% per year (source: www.standardandpoors.com). During this period, the highest 12-month return was 61%, and the lowest was -39%. Savings accounts at a bank may pay as little as 1% or less.It is important to remember that future rates of return can't be predicted with certainty and that investments that pay higher rates of return are generally subject to higher risk and volatility. The actual rate of return on investments can vary widely over time, especially for long-term investments. This includes the potential loss of principal on your investment. It is not possible to invest directly in an index and the compounded rate of return noted above does not reflect sales charges and other fees that funds and/or investment companies may charge.

Information and interactive calculators are made available to you as self-help tools for your independent use and are not intended to provide investment advice.
We cannot and do not guarantee their applicability or accuracy in regards to your individual circumstances. All examples are hypothetical and are for illustrative purposes.
We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding all personal finance issues.