Yes, you have to take that MoneyOwl article with a pinch of salt. Market interest rates are lower, and the guaranteed returns with those educational savings plans are definitely lower. And you really should be focusing on the guaranteed returns. All of them can project fantasies up to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's advertising limits, but they are mere fantasies.
If you're pretty sure that at least one of your children is going to attend a U.S. university, and if you happen to have a trusted family member who is a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident, then there are some options available there. One of them is called a "529 plan," which is a U.S. tax advantaged educational savings plan. Last I checked, California's 529 plan is quite good, assuming you pick the low cost target age fund. But the "best" plan is often the one sponsored by the state where your trusted family member lives due to state tax advantages in addition to the federal ones, unless your family member happens to live in a state without state income tax. A 529 plan is pretty simple, really: you (via your trusted family member) put money in the account -- every calendar quarter for example -- where it's automatically managed to converge on your child's university age, and then it's completely U.S. tax free when you use it to pay for qualified educational expenses. Technically those 529 plan funds belong to your trusted family member, so this family member really needs to be trustworthy. However, since the funds technically no longer belong to you (the parent) or to your child, to the limited extent financial need-based aid is available to international students these 529 plan resources generally won't count against your child in those financial need calculations.
With the same assumption (having a trusted U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident family member), Massachusetts offers a prepaid tuition plan called "U.Plan." That's simple, too: deposit funds in the account (via that trusted family member again), and you're buying university tuition at the current sticker price. For example, Wellesley College (Hillary Clinton's alma mater) is listed as US$56,052 for total tuition and fees (but not room, board, and incidentals) in the 2019-2020 academic year, the most recent year that I see listed. (The 2020-2021 academic year just started as I write this.) If you deposit US$5,605.20 (10%), you receive a tuition certificate that's valid for 10% of the cost of one year at Wellesley College whenever your child enrolls, whatever the future (higher) price is. The percentage of tuition and fees at any of the other ~69 colleges and universities on the list in Massachusetts is fixed when you make a deposit, too. As another example, that US$5,605.20 deposit would be good for about 9.56% of one year at Amherst College. You can pay for all 4 years (400%) of Wellesley or Amherst or Boston College in one deposit if you wish.
OK, but what if your child doesn't attend one of the universities or colleges on the U.Plan list? No problem: there's still a fallback, minimum, higher education inflation-based return.
OK, but what if your child gets a full scholarship? No problem, same basic deal: minimum return guaranteed. But please read the terms and conditions carefully for details.
Up until recently I didn't think U.Plan was such a great deal, but now, in the current low market interest rate environment and with ~11 years to go, it's a little more interesting. The list of colleges and universities is pretty good, although Harvard, M.I.T., and oh-so-lovely Williams College aren't on the U.Plan list. Funds could still be used at those institutions, and others in the U.S., based on the fallback inflation-based returns.
I agree with mummynew that many people think it costs more to live in the U.K. as a student than it actually does, but there's a reason for that: London. If you're a student pretty much anywhere outside London, the cost of living can be quite reasonable or even downright cheap. London is an anomaly.
There are some countries, mostly in Europe, that offer tuition free university and college educations to every admitted student. A few of these courses of instruction are conducted in English.
I'd also like to highlight Canada as a potential university destination, for example McGill University in Montreal.
The "sticker prices" at U.S. universities and colleges are breathtakingly high, really. However, most students don't pay the sticker prices, so don't get too scared off. "Shop around" when the time comes. Granted, this was many years ago, but the actual price offers I got at the undergraduate universities where I was accepted ranged from literally zero (free tuition, room, and board for the whole 4 years) to about US$20,000/year all-in as I recall. All of them were at least a little lower than the advertised sticker prices. And it was pretty random. One of the literally zero offers was a compelling offer, actually, and the ~US$20,000/year offer was strangely not (a university that was kind of average).
