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Rising school fees 'bearable' with family income benefit
16/07/2008 17:13:00
Family income benefit can prove to be "a halfway house" to help a bereaved spouse cope with steadily rising private school fees, says a financial expert.
As well as the facility being an "extremely useful" way to meet these demands, families should take care to protect their fee payments in case the worst should happen, advises independent financial advisor Equity Partners.
Kevin Tooze, managing director at the company, said: "Otherwise you could find yourself, or a bereaved spouse, having to pull your child out of school when you could have avoided it."
According to research from Halifax Financial Services, annual private school fees climbed by an overall average of 40 per cent over the last five years, soaring most rapidly by 48 per cent in the south-west.
The study also showed that workers across just 18 occupations could reasonably afford to send their children to private school in 2008, compared to 30 occupations in 2003.
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