Should I send my children to study abroad?
YES! If you have 1 crore hard cash lying in the bank then by all means... and you have other source of income other than depending entirely on this 1 Crore in bank ... then YES send them to study abroad.
But if you plan on taking a loan of Rupees 30 Lakhs then paying a monthly interest of Rs 40,000 per month... then think twice… no think 5 times before committing yourself... because:
Education Loan:
· Education loan Interest is 10.25% at present.
· In 10 years you repay about ₹48.67lacs for borrowing ₹30lacs (almost double).
· EMI will be ₹40k per month
· Interest and processing charges will change periodically.
Top countries to study abroad
The following are the Countries preferred by most students to study abroad:
· Australia
· Canada
· Germany
· Switzerland
· US
· UK
· New Zealand
· The Netherlands
· France
· South Korea
Evaluate your Income:
· Can you add Rs 40,000 monthly to your existing expenses easily?
· Do you have a steady job? Something as steady as a govt job? Where chances of losing it are remote.
· Do you have other sources of income, other than your job?
· If you can visualize yourself paying off this loan easily? If yes then go for this loan.
· If you find this a little inconvenient then be very careful.
· Remember a job is not guaranteed at the end of the course. They will have to get in queues and compete with other Indian students in foreign countries who came with the same hope.
· This loan can put your existing life under serious stress and can destroying your & your spouses life and even that of your children.
What are the difficulties the students must overcome?
· Culture shock: Adjusting to a new culture can be challenging, and students may experience feelings of homesickness, loneliness, or confusion.
· Language barrier: If English is not their first language, foreign students may struggle with the language barrier and may face difficulties in communication.
· Homesickness: Being away from home and family can be challenging, and foreign students may feel homesick, which can impact their mental health and academic performance.
· Academic challenges: Foreign students may face academic challenges due to differences in the education system, teaching style, or course requirements.
· Financial difficulties: Studying in the USA can be expensive, and foreign students may face financial difficulties. They may have limited access to financial aid or student loans, which can make it difficult to cover tuition fees, housing, and other living expenses
Also they can legally work only 20 hours per week during school term and work full-time during holidays and vacation periods. This is only on campus.
In some countries off-campus work is not allowed. In those that allow it the work hrs are legally limited to 20hrs per week. (This is not even 3 days wages per week).
Students not necessarily get jobs. So they do whatever work they get outside the campus.
Its quite common that Students try working more hours than they are allowed to. Their employers know this and exploit them by paying them less because they cannot fight back legally.
So it is very much important to have a financial back-up plan.
OTHER PROBLEMS THEY FACE ARE:
· Discrimination: Foreign students may face discrimination or racism due to their race, ethnicity, or nationality. This is like an open secret but no one talks about but it exists. You have definitely never faced anything like this in India.
· Immigration issues: Foreign students may face challenges with visas, work permits, or immigration laws, which can affect their ability to study and work in the USA. Sometimes these students have no option but live there illegally because they visa expired and they ran out of money so they cannot travel back home. They know the parents back home cannot send them any more money. So this is why there needs to be a financial backup in case of things do not work out well.
· The war with Russia is a big drain on the Western Economy, increasing their expenses drastically and even bringing them on the brink of an economic collapse. It is not like a war with Iraq or Afghanistan. Russia can fight back bullet for bullet and even economically.
All wars after WW2 have lasted more than 10 yrs. There have been many of them fought & funded around the world, directly or indirectly by these same NATO forces.
The goal of Russia is to elongate the war as long as possible in an attempt to expose the double standards of the WEST if not destroy the economy of the western countries.
Finally if these students or rather "aspirants" are successful they will finally move up to a better job and get an opportunity to live there. But they might not necessarily take you there until their financial conditions allow them. If they marry someone there then even that "opportunity" for… you too… to migrate there will be lost.
Imagine the difficulties of moving from your home state to another state in India. It’s a little easy if you are single but after marrying and having a child it gets much more difficult. It’s much more difficult in these countries where even babysitting is expensive.
In these countries as they become parents both husband and wife might have to put in long hours (add the travel time) leaving the child with very little parental influence and a lot of local influence. Sometime finding a nanny would itself be quite expensive and sometimes impossible.
This is evident in the schools of these countries. In US its worst… Bullying is normal. Guns are easily available. Students bringing guns to school and shooting other students in not very uncommon. Forget home break-ins even grocery stores get robbed. Who robs grocery stores in India?
Homelessness of local people in US are on the rise. They might have a job but they have lost their homes and live on the streets. Expenses have doubled since the war started especially electricity. It is possible to sleep without electricity in India but it is not possible to survive without electricity in cold Western countries.
The way US tries to educe inflation is by increasing unemployment (this is as per the March-2023 FED announcement – they plan to create 10% unemployment to rein in recession to “cool the economy” – bizarre plan indeed).
Finally War with Russia has EXPOSED the fact that these WESTERN ECONOMY can function properly ONLY if they get CRUDE OIL at US$60 per barrel. Anything over $80 and they go to war because war is the stimulus for their economy just like agriculture is the stimulus for our economy.
ECONOMY OF THE WEST IS TUMBLING
Till recent the economy of the west was linked to PETRO-DOLLAR trade. The dollar was not linked to gold and US enjoyed enormous benefits. They could buy fuel just by printing paper (dollars) so they kept printing more and more and fuel was cheap and American people could afford more and more. Europe too enjoyed the benefits by joining with US and by manipulating world economy to their benefit.
BRICS CURRENCY TO REPLACE THE DOLLAR
Brazil, Russia, India, China, Saudi Arabia (& other Asian-Arabian countries) have been planning ways to avoid buying the over inflated US Dollar and they have finally come together with many countries to trade among themselves by using currencies other than the US Dollar. Together these countries make up 80% of the world population and 50% of the World Trade.
This means 2 things - either US will put a sanctions on these countries or the value of the dollar will fall by 50%. This could create huge recession almost overnight in US & European countries as both these economies are tied together like Siamese-twins. Sactions are not an option because the BRICS currency itself came into existence because of the overuse of US sanctions on almost every non-NATO country some time or the other. This will create very difficult living conditions and high cost of living in western countries.
What other OPTION do children have in India…
1. Have you ever thought the fact that investing Rs1 Lakhs in Uno Minda stocks would have got you or your children Rs 1crore in 10 yrs?
If you put this 1 Cr even in FD at the rate of 7% it will give Rs 58,000 per month. Do you think he will get this much salary after 10 yrs?
2. If you put Rs 30 Lakh in NHAI InvIt Govt Bonds you will get 8.50% which is Rs 21,000 from next month on wards. If you put 60Lakhs then you would get 42,000/- This is just 8.50% there are companies that pay 16% dividends (see below table). To own these company shares you need to Open a Demat Account:
Even if you invest Rs 30 Lakh in IOCL or REC (see below div. table) and get 16% dividend your children will get Rs 40,000/- per month from next year on wards. They will surely not spend all this and be able to reinvest in other stocks. Meaning by the time their course was supposed to be over they would be earning something like Rs 50,000-60,000. Unlike in Fixed Deposit the rate of return in stock market is always above inflation rate and thus their investment will not dwindle in time.
This will provide him with Financial Independence and allow them to choose the profession of their interest rather than going for quickest way to any job.
With this money the student can pursue further studies or travel across India as a backpacker or do what they like to do to earn money.
If he/she cannot find any job (as many are fearing) they could start trading in stocks. This can be very easily done by going through this link. All they need to do is Open a Demat Account (its possible to do it from your home or office in 15 minutes) and invest in high income instruments like Stocks, Gold Bonds, REITS, CorporateFDs, etc or even trade in short term if the see the profit more than 20% which happens at least a few times a year.
Our government might be corrupt, but everything is not lost. Our entrepreneurs are building India. The biggest profit in any industry is in India. Even some of the richest businessmen stay back in India to make money although they have offices all over the world. Their children are educated in the best universities in the world but are no match to their founder.
Take the example of Dhirubhai and his 2 sons. Dhirubhai was able to build his business from zero. Studying abroad did not make his sons greater than him. Both his sons were much more educated than him and attended the best business schools in the world. One of them became bankrupt while other is propped up by the support of the Government.
Invest in companies that are making profit in India, especially those companies which do not have debt. Get their CEO's to work for you. You can get them to work for you if you invest in stocks of their company.
They will work their heart out for you... they will will get up at 4am be it rain, snow or shine, attend the meetings, bargain with other businessmen, politicians, VC sharks, make a profit and then report to you at the end of the year with an Annual Report.
Obviously they will keep the lion’s share of profit (in multiple ways) with them but what they shares with you through his company stocks will be enough for you and your children to live a much better life.
SUMMARY: Should I send my children to study abroad?
So finally we would advice it is ok to send your children to study abroad if you have a very comfortable financial cushion even after paying 60 lakhs for their education.
If you have the ability to pay 60 lakhs instead of 30 lakhs (because you will more or less end up paying 60 Lakhs) then by all means send them there. It will be a very good learning experience.
But don’t be too surprised or too disappointed if they come back to India to find a job here because they were unsuccessful in finding a job there.
Now you are free to take that decision based on the above information.
If you find any value in this information please send it to your friends or relatives especially those families who are trying send their children to study abroad. Send it also to the student too as he must understand the difficulties he is going to face.
It is very common for Social Media to suppress such information which doesn’t support their GDP growth, so unless you pass this information it will not reach our children or their parents.
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