I had the pleasure to review Mike Holman’s fantastic book, The RESP Book: The Complete Guide to Registered Education Savings Plans for Canadians the last few evenings. It is available at Amazon – http://www.amazon.ca/RESP-Book-Registered-Education-Canadians/dp/0986648906
Mike runs the popular Canadian personal finance website MoneySmartsBlog.com which was nominated by the Globe and Mail as one of the best money blogs in Canada.
I have followed Mike’s blog for some time and he always has great blog posts and is very knowledgeable. He has worked in the Canadian financial industry for almost two decades so you can be rest assured he is an expert in this category.
My wife and I do not have children but we are currently making a savings account for when we expect to have children. One major cost we see is education. My parents helped me with my education and I used part bursaries and scholarships to pay tuition and books. I stayed home for school and I was glad I did – 1/2 hour walk to university for me. I see many friends spend thousands of dollars for degrees that will take years to pay off. It would have been nice to get some extra loans.
Mike discusses reasons why to get an RESP and reasons why an RESP might not work for everyone. This is a must-read for every Canadian parent that has children. He also discusses why some of the prognosticators for the tuition estimates in 2025 may be off. He sticks to the facts and has several case studies to show some difficult calculations. I liked the part where Mike explained the pros / cons of setting up an account with your bank/investment advisor. It is not a very long book compared to other financial texts but it is perfect guide and not too intimidating a read. I also liked that Mike did not like Group RESP plans (I am not a fan of these outfits either).
The RESP Book will help you understand how RESP accounts work and how to get one started, what kind of RESP account to set up and what kind of investments to buy.
Parents, uncles and aunts, grandparents, family friends: anyone who wants to help a child achieve his or her educational dreams can open or contribute to an RESP account, the perfect way to save money and receive generous government grants at the same time.
Topics covered in this book include:
- RESP grant eligibility
- Contribution rules
- Withdrawal rules
- How to avoid penalties if child does not attend school
- Additional grants
- Canada Learning Bond
- How to start an RESP account
- Basic RESP investing information
Here is the news about the giveaway:
Thanks to the wonderful generosity of Money Smart Blog, 1 winner will receive their own copy of The RESP Book: The Complete Guide to Registered Education Savings Plans for Canadians.
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Disclosure:
Grocery Alerts Canada has not been compensated for this review. Grocery Alerts was given the book to review by the author.
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13 Comments
I follow you on Twitter (jentamar).
I’m a fan on facebook (Jen Tam).
I really want to learn more about RESPs. I find the subject confusing but I know I need one now for my son.
Sounds very interesting…
This is something I could certainly learn more about.
I just had my first baby and have a number of friends who are in the same situation. We all need info about RESPs and it would be great to have a copy of this book and be able to recommend it to friends.
From all the reivews it looks very detailed.
This looks like a very interesting book.
Can’t wait to read this book.
Looking forward to reading this book. Hopefully it’s as good as everyone says it is.
I started and RESP with our first child, but the information you get from the banks is vague at best, misleading at worst (but don’t expect them to take responsibility). I wish I read this book 4 years ago, hopefully it will help me sort things out.
[...] Grocery Alerts wrote an extremely flattering review of the book. Check out the review here. [...]
The choices are so overwhelming – when you have a baby, all the group RESPs call with their high-pressure sales pitch, it’s all so confusing and annoying! I would love to win a copy of this book to understand the options and how to set up a self-directed RESP!