16-Year Child SIP: Is Your Goal Fund on Track?

Investing for a child's future needs a 15-20 year plan covering college fees, inflation, and insurance. Here's what a real 16-year journey teaches Indian parents about building a goal-based portfolio that actually works.

Here's what happened: College costs in India are rising 8-10% annually — a ₹10 lakh degree today could cost ₹30 lakh in 15 years.. Most parents start investing too late or pick wrong products — endowment plans and child ULIPs often underperform plain SIPs.. Term insurance is the missing piece in most child investment plans — without it, the goal collapses if the parent is gone..

What you should do: Calculate your target: use an 8% annual inflation rate on today's college fees to estimate what you'll need in 15-18 years.. Start or review a dedicated SIP in an index fund or flexi-cap fund earmarked only for your child's education goal.. Buy a term insurance cover of at least 10x your annual income — this protects the investment plan if you're no longer around..

Pro tip: Avoid child-specific mutual fund plans — they have lock-ins and higher costs. A plain equity index fund SIP with your child as nominee works better and costs less.

For readers weighing their credit and loan options, our personal loan guide and CIBIL score resources put this update in context.