Quote:
Originally Posted by Buff
We started saving with a questionable fund.... can't think of the name. Had a couple of people tell me it was just about a scam but we stuck with it. A few years later we went to a financial advisor and when we told him we were with that fund/plan he dropped his head and told us that we should seriously consider getting out of that plan. It wasn't actually a scam but it was very difficult to withdraw money like a normal RESP. He warned us that we won't get all our money back that we invested but we can get something out of it if we transfer it to a new RESP. I think we got a fair amount of what we invested out of it and setup a new RESP. The guy who signed us up for that plan was super upset at us and became quite unprofessional when we initiated the process to transfer to our current RESP.
My sister-in-law had the same plan and when her oldest went to school it was a pain in the butt to get money out of that fund and they lost a lot. I wish I can remember the name, but I believe it doesn't exist anymore, or there were enough complaints that they changed their restrictive rules, or something like that.
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Sorry to hear. Also sounds like y’all got bamboozled by an “advisor” Who was in it for the commissions. What’s done is done but this does emphasize you kinda need to know what you need and not let them tell you what you want.
The biggest thing is to START contributing as soon as possible. Also strongly suggest on any gifts from grandparents should include some $$$ instead of pure junk toys and clutter. So perhaps a cheesy birthday gift AND $50 (or whatever) for the RESP.
Remember too that it’s about time IN the market rather than TIMING the markets. Most kids have nearly a 20 year lead time so invest in decent funds (or whatever) but don’t be so conservative you’re barely getting normal inflation.
As for kids earning money themselves - gosh darn right they need to have some skin in the game too. Tell ‘‘em you’ll help with some costs but they still gotta contribute to help. And yes that includes taking loans out. If you and they are smart you’ll take the loans, use the money wisely, and pay it back within a few months after finishing.
And lastly couple items:
1. Schooling away from home is crazy expensive. So if they’re not little bastards then encourage them to stay home.
2. They need to pick a decent post secondary focus. Sure they might love knitting but a degree in knitting probably doesn’t pay the bills. So return on investment actually should be discussed. Such as… hey Kid, what kinda lifestyle you want? Hobbies? Travel? Well that’ll cost ya $50k education and 5 years and you’ll come out making $11k/yearly and won’t pay that loan off for 25years. Is it worth it? Oh no… ok then do better. Your problem kid.