back to school...

Our four little people are back-to-school, and that means my kids are all a year older, again...

I was asked by MomCentral to write a post for RBC about the importance of RESP's and how they can have a huge impact on post-secondary education costs. With government grants, investment income, and little monthly contributions, it's easy to save. I was fortunate that the college I went to was local, and my parents helped out by offering free room and board and free car insurance while I went. But this might not be possible for our kids, and post-secondary education costs are rising every year, so RESP's will be a big help down the road.

My oldest daughter is just a year away from middle school now, and we've already had talks about what comes after school and trying to influence the importance of getting post-secondary education. So far, she seems to be leaning towards moving out, getting a job, and spending her days shopping :) But we've been trying to get through to her that post-secondary education would make that job hunt a lot easier, and the job pay better. Another one of my daughter's just wants to grow up and be a Mom, which opens up the conversation to which type of careers would allow her to re-enter the work force when she's ready, much like my bookkeeping education and experience have allowed me to do. My husband went through a trades apprenticeship program, and RESP's will also work to pay for that if one of our children decides to go that route. We've realized through all this, that it's not too early to start having these conversations, and the more we put the emphasis on post-secondary education now, hopefully the more likely they will pursue it later.

An RBC advisor can sit down with you and explain the different options for an individual or family RESP fund as well. If it seems overwhelming to set up a fund for each child, you can just set up one fund and it will be accessible for all your children later.

RBC would like to invite you to a twitter party on October 1st - find them with the hashtag #RESPwithRBC, they will be giving away 6 $100 gift cards. They are also running a Facebook contest, Grow Your RESP with RBC, where you can win 1 of 4 prizes of $500 towards an RESP.

Disclosure: I am part of the RBC RESP blogger program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.