RESP | Financial Crooks

How Long Will It Take To Withdraw EAP and Grant Money from My Child’s BMO InvestorLine RESP?

Was it a good or bad decision to mail in our request for a RESP withdrawal during Canada Post rotating strikes?

Why Might a Second RESP for a Niece, Nephew, Grandchild, Godchild or Other Loved Child be a Good Idea?

There are times when it might be better to open a second RESP for a child than to hand cash to the parents to put into the first RESP.

Should I Set Up a Second RESP for My Nephew, Niece, Godchild or Other Loved Baby?

You may want to help someone else’s child pay for an education. Here’s some things to consider before opening a RESP for that child.

My Child Is Now 15 (Or 16) What Should I Do with My Self-Directed Brokerage RESP?

Should I move my RESP before my child starts university or college? What should I be invested in and for how long?

Get Ready to Die: Revising Your Will and Guardians As Your Children Grow Older

Our children aren’t toddlers anymore and we’ve realized we need to update our wills to reflect some new realities. Seeing a car accident at close range reminded me it’s time to make the call.

What Are the Common Types of Registered Education Savings Plans and Which is Best?

Where’s a good place to open a RESP if you can’t or won’t invest in the stock market? What about if you want to buy equities but only have a small amount to invest each year? What about investors with large family-plan RESPs who want to buy ETFs? Here are some suggestions and considerations. Please add your own in the comments.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Holding a Self-Directed RESP Account at a Discount Brokerage

We considered many factors before moving our RESP to an online brokerage–here are some to consider.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Enrolling in a Group RESP Through a Private Company

There are many companies that offer to take your RESP contributions and invest them for you. In theory, when your child begins a program of education after completing high school, they then pay your child an amount as agreed toaaa

Advantages and Disadvantages of Holding a Registered Education Savings Plan, RESP, Through a Bank or Credit Union

Many of us start our first RESP at a bank or credit union for some of the reasons listed here; Many of us move our RESP later for some of the other reasons listed here.

How to Group Non-Registered, TFSA and RRSP Accounts Under One ID at Investor’s Edge

Ok this is not an inspired post but it’s the first Monday back after vacation: at least it provides useful info for those of us who want to see all of our portfolios after signing in only once.

Which Self-Directed Brokerages Handle Which RESP Grants, Bonds and Incentives?

Only some of the larger brokerages are offering support for most of the federal and provincial government education savings grants, bonds and incentives. Here’s a list of which brokerages are supporting which grants, and a list of links to read about the different programs from which your child may be eligible to receive money.

Be Forewarned: Move Your RESP BEFORE You Want to Make a Withdrawal

I wasn’t expecting this rule when I skimmed a federal government document.

What Information Does BMO InvestorLine Provide About a RESP Family Plan Especially After a Transfer?

We moved the money in our family plan RESP from BMO to InvestorLine. Did the information about what was contributed for and granted to each Beneficiary get moved also? And why you might want to print some paper copies of your RESP statements from the sheepish owner of several invaluable 5.25″ floppy disks.

How Do I Group InvestorLine Accounts Under a User ID and Whose Accounts Can I Group?

If I could convince my neighbour to allow me to see his account balance, portfolio holdings and transaction history, I could add his account to my InvestorLine User ID to achieve the 5 Star Program level and get Level II quotes. Who knew?!

How Do I Get $9.95 Trades for my RESP Account at BMO InvestorLine

If you want to start trading for $9.95 faster in your RESP account, here’s what you may have to do; at least until all the brokerages start offering $9.95 trades to all customers like RBC Direct Investing has recently started doing.

How to Invest in the HISA AAT770 in Your InvestorLine RESP Account

If you have $5000 in cash in your RESP, it may be better to have it at InvestorLine than at BMO.

How to Make a Contribution to your RESP Account at BMO InvestorLine

You can easily make a lump sum contribution or set up a monthly deposit into your BMO InvestorLine RESP account if you have a BMO bank account. Here’s how.

Signing in to your BMO InvestorLine RESP Account for the First Time

When you first sign in to your InvestorLine RESP account you’ll need to know what a professional subscriber is and whether you are one. You’ll also set up your security questions and passwords, and then you can finally take a look at the price of equities, ETFs and the yields of GICs. This article tells you how.

How to Open a RESP Account at BMO InvestorLine

I procrastinated for no reason: it wasn’t particularly hard to open a RESP self-directed brokerage account at InvestorLine. If you’ve been putting it off, maybe this will inspire you, too. It also explains what to do if you can’t find your old red-and-white-now-turning-yellow-with-age-broken-in-half-and-scotch-taped-back-together SIN card.

How to Buy a GIC in a RBC Direct Investing Online Brokerage Account

As I test how to purchase a GIC at RBC Direct Investing, I discover a bug and compare the process to making the same purchase at BMO InvestorLine or CIBC Investor’s Edge. And do brokerages REALLY think that we will buy a lower-rate-paying GIC from their affiliated bank just because they list that product at the top of the offerings?

How to Buy Units in a High Interest Savings Account Fund at RBC Direct Investing

Is anyone else skittish about investing quickly into these high-priced stock markets? While I’m dithering, I tested parking some cash in a HISA fund at RBC Direct Investing. There were a few differences compared to doing the same at InvestorLine and Investor’s Edge that surprised me.

How Do I Start Getting $9.95 Trades at RBC Direct Investing Now I Have $50 000?

I was surprised and frankly not impressed when I checked into the details of RBC Direct Investing’s $9.95 trades.

How to Buy Units in a High Interest Savings Account Fund in a CIBC Investor’s Edge Account

I’ve decided it’s time to sell my units in the “Greek Government Honest We’ll Pay You Back!” bond fund and move the money into something really exciting: a high interest savings account fund. OK, maybe this is just good information for temporarily parking your cash while waiting to pounce on a great investment.

When Should I Switch to a Self-Directed Brokerage Account? As Soon As It’s “No Fee”

When’s the right time to open a self-directed online discount brokerage account? In my case, about 1.5 years ago: Guess I’d better get cracking.

More RESP Ramblings, Insights and Articles

A collection of articles about education from saving for toddlers to booking hotel rooms for graduation. Enjoy!

Where Should I Start a Self-Directed RESP?

There are many factors to consider when choosing where to open a RESP brokerage account, from annual fees (no minimum balance needed at this Big Bank brokerage!), to ETF commissions (some can be traded with no fees at this other Big Bank brokerage), to customer service and which grants can be accepted. Here’s some factors we considered while pondering where to put that hard-earned future-beer money.

Back to School and Registered Education Savings Plans

As we get ready around here for back to school and we cheer on yet another niece beginning her first year of university I spent some time reading up on RESPs. Here are some of the better articles I found.

When Should I Start a RESP?

We didn’t start a RESP when our first child was born. In fact, we didn’t start one for 10 years. Do we regret that?

Free Education Money for Low Income Canadian Families’ Children: Apply Today

Families can have a low income for various reasons. All of them can benefit from this federal government program to provide free money towards their children’s future education costs.

Checking the Current Real Time Price for an Equity Using BMO InvestorLine

Do you want to know the REAL price of a stock not some ancient history 20-minute-delayed price? Use your InvestorLine account to access up to the several-times-a-minute facts.

How Fast Can I Sell my BMO InvestorLine AAT770 HISA to Generate Cash to Re-invest?

This is what I found out when I tested the speed of a sale of AAT770, BMO’s daily interest savings account no load fund, including the surprise perq on a 7-day investment.

How to Invest in the AAT770 High Daily Interest Savings Account Fund, HISA, at BMO InvestorLine

BMO InvestorLine has a new HISA available with a minimum required balance of $5000. Here’s how to buy some of this fund to deposit your money while you wait for a pullback or the optimum moment to execute your precision 50-bagger trade. (And a cynical observation about how else BMO could have offered interest for cash holdings.)

Investing in the AAT770 Daily High Interest Savings Account Fund, HISA, for BMO InvestorLine RRSP, TFSA and Other Accounts

BMO InvestorLine has made a significant improvement to its HISA option, changing it from the absurd to the reasonably useful. Please read on to learn about this new high interest savings account fund, the rate it pays and the required minimum investment.

How to Buy a GIC in a BMO InvestorLine Account

Lists which types of GICs are sold by BMO InvestorLine, what fees are payable, how to buy one, whether the GICs rollover at maturity, and when to expect interest and principal payments to land in your stash of Cash.

Why I Won’t Bother With Granite Countertops

Choosing what to spend your money on based on what really matters to you should help you live well now and save for the future.

Are ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) Better than Mutual Funds?

What are the tax differences between ETFs and mutual funds and the differences in how they DRIP? These and other features are important to examine before making a purchase.

How to Buy a GIC in a CIBC Investor’s Edge Self-Directed Investing Account

Instructions for reviewing rates and buying GICs within a CIBC Investor’s Edge account to form part of your fixed income holdings.

How to Evaluate Mutual Funds and Choose which Funds to Buy

Are you comparing apples and cows when you try to evaluate 2 mutual funds? How will a fund earn you money and how can you get your hands on it? Is it true mutual funds are named using a random phrase generator? And when did Australia become part of Asia anyway? Read on for these and other details about the murky world of mutual funds.