The short answer

To use a lump sum for education, map every fee date for each child, then split the money by when it's needed. Keep the next one to three years of fees safe in cash, in the currency you'll pay in. Invest the money for later years for growth — the further away the fees, the more growth can do: at 8% a year, about R740,000 invested today could fund R2 million of fees starting in eleven years. Invest all at once or in stages, on a suitable platform, bond or trust, mostly outside the rand for fees paid in baht or abroad, and move money to safety as each stage approaches. If there's a gap, add a monthly plan. Lawrence will plan it with you, free.

Ask about school-fee planning, or compare schools in our international schools directory.

Where education lump sums come from

Each source comes with its own tax position, timing and currency — a South African property sale arrives in rand, a Thai bonus in baht, an inheritance perhaps in several currencies. A non-resident selling South African property usually has tax withheld by the buyer under section 35A until SARS confirms the final tax. Before deciding how to use the money, check the tax in both countries and how best to move it. Our guide to lump-sum investment planning covers the first ninety days.

Step 1: Map the fees to the dates

The secret to making a lump sum go further is to match each part of it to a specific bill. Write down, for each child, every year of school and university still to come, the likely cost, the currency and the date it's due. Then group the money into three pots. Fees in the next one to three years will definitely be paid soon, so keep that money safe, in cash or short-term deposits, in the currency of the fees. Fees three to seven years away can be invested cautiously, in a mix of bonds and some shares, moving to cash as each year approaches. Anything seven years or more away can be invested mainly for growth, because there's time to recover from market falls.

As each year passes, money moves from "later" to "soon" to "now". It's a simple discipline that protects next term's fees from a market fall — or a sudden drop in the rand — while letting the long-term money grow.

Matching a lump sum to fee dates

How to split an education lump sum by when the money is needed.

A general approach. The right split depends on your other income, the amount and your attitude to risk.

How far can a lump sum go?

Time is the lump sum's best friend. At 8% a year, R2 million invested when a child is five could grow to about R5.4 million by eighteen; invested at ten, about R3.7 million; at fifteen, about R2.5 million.

Looked at the other way, the further away the fees, the less you need to set aside today. To fund five years of fees at R400,000 a year — about ฿816,000, close to a mid-range Bangkok school — starting in six years, you'd need to invest about R1.09 million today at 8% a year. If those fees start in eleven years, about R740,000 would do. That's why money for a young child's senior school and university years can work so hard.

Growth isn't guaranteed, and real returns will vary year to year — which is exactly why the money for the next few years should be kept safe, and the plan reviewed every year.

What you need to set aside today

The lump sum needed today to fund R2 million of fees (five years at R400,000), invested at 8% a year.

Illustration only, at 8% a year. Money due within three years is better held in cash, which grows more slowly.

Sharing a lump sum between several children

With two or three children, a single lump sum has to stretch across different timelines. The youngest child's fees are furthest away, so their share can be invested for growth for longest; the eldest's are nearest, so more of their share needs to be safe. A fair split isn't always an equal one in rand today — it's one that aims to cover a similar share of each child's education.

With more than one child, draw a single timeline with every child's school and university years side by side, and give each child their own pot — separate accounts or bond segments make it easy to track. The youngest child's share can be invested more for growth. And agree as a family what's fair, especially in blended families or when grandparents are contributing.

All at once, or in stages?

For the long-term "later" pot, the question is whether to invest it all at once or feed it in over several months. Research by Vanguard found that investing a lump sum straight away beat phasing it in about two-thirds of the time, simply because markets rise more often than they fall. But phasing can make sense if a sudden fall soon after investing would worry you — it trades a little expected return for peace of mind. The same logic applies to converting rand: moving it all at once is usually fine for long-term money, but converting in stages spreads the risk of a bad day for the currency.

Either way, the "now" pot should never be invested in shares: money for next year's fees belongs in cash. Our guide to regular saving versus lump-sum investing explains the trade-off.

Where to start

A lump sum matched to every fee date, somewhere safe to hold it outside the rand, and the right way to move it.

Where to hold an education lump sum

Cash and deposits

For the "now" pot: easy access, no investment risk, ideally in the currency of the fees — baht for the next term or two, hard currency for the rest. Interest is modest, and Thai bank interest is taxed at 15% at source.

International investment platforms

Flexible, low-cost and multi-currency. Ardan International, for example, has no minimum investment, a 0.4% yearly account fee, up to 11 currencies and a free beneficiary trust. Platforms suit families who want to draw money as fees fall due.

Offshore investment bonds

Popular for larger sums, especially with trusts. Bonds can be split into segments to hand to a child or cash in stages, and growth inside the bond is generally only taxed when money is taken out — how depends on where you're tax resident at the time. Options include RL360 Oracle (from US$28,000, about R461,000), Hansard Global Select and Investors Trust's lump-sum plans.

Our lump-sum solutions directory compares them side by side.

Lump-sum options compared

Options South African families commonly use for an education lump sum.

From our provider profiles and lump-sum directory, checked October 2026. Rand at R16.47 per US dollar. Investment products are arranged through a financial adviser; read the terms, including any early-exit charges.

Using retirement money for education

Parents and grandparents sometimes consider using retirement money to pay for education — a one-third lump sum when retiring from a retirement annuity or pension fund, or a withdrawal after three years of non-residence. It can work, but think carefully first. Lump sums are taxed: at retirement under the retirement lump sum table, which has a tax-free first portion, and on a non-residence withdrawal under the less generous withdrawal table, after a SARS tax directive. Money taken out stops growing inside a tax-efficient retirement fund, and your own retirement comes first — children can borrow or win bursaries for university, but you can't borrow for retirement. Thai tax may apply to money brought into Thailand if you're Thai tax resident, and the timing matters: a payout years before the fees are due needs investing, not spending.

Our guide to moving from saving to retirement income explains how a lump sum fits a wider plan.

Drawing the money as fees fall due

Once the plan is in place, running it is straightforward. Each year, before the new school or university year, move the coming year's fees from the "soon" pot into cash, top up "soon" from "later" if markets have been good, and fix the exchange rate for the fees if they're in a different currency. If markets have fallen, leave the growth pot alone and use the cash and cautious pots instead — that's exactly what they're for. A short yearly review keeps everything on track as children move from primary to secondary school and on to university.

Combining a lump sum with monthly saving

A lump sum and monthly saving work well together. The lump sum covers the nearer school years and gives the long-term pot a head start; a monthly plan builds up money for the years the lump sum won't stretch to — often university. If your sums show a gap, a modest monthly plan started now, with growth of around 8% a year, can close it. Our guide to regular savings for a child's education shows how much to save.

Currency: moving the money out of the rand

A lump sum from South Africa arrives in rand, while Thai school fees are in baht and a university abroad charges its own currency. The rand bought more than ฿4 in 2011 and about ฿2.04 in October 2026 — so money left in rand for fees paid in baht carries real risk. Moving a large sum through your bank's standard rate can also cost tens of thousands of rand more than a specialist.

Hold each pot in the currency of its fees — baht for the next Thai school terms, hard currency for later years, and rand only for a South African university. Plan your allowances: each adult can send R2 million a year under the single discretionary allowance, and up to R10 million more with SARS approval. Use a specialist to convert large sums at a competitive rate — on R3 million, a 3% margin is R90,000 — fix the rate for known future fees with a forward contract, and if you're unsure about the rate, convert in stages.

Our guide to large ZAR to THB transfers covers the practicalities.

Tax in two countries

How the lump sum is taxed depends on where it came from and where you live. A South African property sale may carry capital gains tax, with withholding for non-resident sellers; a retirement lump sum is taxed under SARS's tables; an inheritance has usually had estate duty settled by the estate before it reaches you. If you're Thai tax resident, foreign income arising from 2024 that you bring into Thailand can be taxable, while savings built up before you became resident are treated differently — so keep clear records of what each transfer is. Our guide to tax residence, SARS and international investments explains the rules.

Ring-fencing the money with a trust

Placing an education lump sum in trust can ring-fence it for your children, keep it separate from your other money and make sure it reaches them smoothly if something happens to you — without waiting for an estate to be wound up in two countries. Offshore bonds work particularly well in trust, and some platforms offer a free beneficiary trust. Grandparents often use trusts to fund grandchildren's education. Gifts by South African residents above R100,000 a year per donor may attract donations tax, so larger gifts are worth checking first; Thai gift tax exempts gifts from grandparents to grandchildren up to ฿20 million a year.

Protecting the plan

A lump sum already set aside is the best protection of all — the money is there whatever happens. But if the lump sum covers only part of the bill, and income or monthly saving covers the rest, life cover and income protection for the main earner keep the remainder on track. Health insurance for the family stops a medical bill eating into the education fund — South African medical aid generally won't cover you in Thailand. We take leads for insurance and can introduce you to specialists who arrange cover for expat families.

The most common mistakes

1. Leaving it all in a rand account for years while baht fees rise.
2. Investing next year's fees in shares.
3. Spending it on other things because it isn't ring-fenced.
4. Converting at a poor bank rate.
5. Forgetting the allowances — and leaving money stuck in South Africa when fees are due.
6. Ignoring tax in South Africa or Thailand.
7. Choosing a product with long lock-ins when you'll need the money soon.
8. Never reviewing as children move through school.

Three real-world examples

Jaco and Ying: the Pretoria house sale

Jaco and Ying sold their Pretoria home for R5 million after settling in Bangkok, with two children aged 6 and 9. Once the tax was settled, they moved the money out within their allowances, kept three years of fees in baht and dollars, invested about R2 million cautiously for the senior school years and the rest for growth for university, and fixed the exchange rate each year for the coming fees.

Elsa: an inheritance for her grandchildren

Elsa inherited R3 million and wanted it to pay for her two grandchildren's university. Moved offshore and placed in a bond in trust, divided into segments for each child, it's invested for growth with more than ten years to go.

Sipho: the bonus and the gap

Sipho received an R800,000 bonus when his daughter was 12. It covered her next two years of fees safely, held in a hard-currency account, with a monthly plan added for the senior years and university.

Your lump-sum checklist

• I've mapped every fee date for each child.
• The next one to three years are safe in cash.
• Later money is invested for growth.
• Each pot is in the right currency — not all in rand.
• I've chosen a suitable platform, bond or trust.
• I've checked the tax in both countries.
• Any gap is covered by a monthly plan.
• I move money to safety as each stage approaches, and review yearly.

Keeping a large sum safe

A large sum attracts attention from fraudsters. Be wary of anyone who contacts you about investing it, of guaranteed high returns, and of requests to send money anywhere other than a well-known provider in your name. Confirm school payment details directly with the school, and use a private, protected connection on public Wi-Fi.

How we researched this guide

Product details come from our lump-sum directory and provider profiles, using RL360, Hansard, Investors Trust and Ardan International's published information, converted at R16.47 per US dollar. The lump-sum-versus-phasing finding comes from Vanguard; school fees from Thailand Starter Kit (4 August 2026); South African tax and allowance rules from our earlier South African guides. Illustrations assume growth of 8% a year, the level Lawrence's education plans typically aim for; growth isn't guaranteed. Checked 23 October 2026. This guide is general information, not personal financial or tax advice.