I have no agenda, no bias. But what I care about is the poor beleagured father/mother who comes on here looking for resp info at 2am after getting waylaid in the hospital by resp companies, as I was in July 2007.

I like that you come on here, explain who you are if not your company (don’t know why really but ok) and engage in discourse… to a point. However, your comments are often inconsistent, and your attempts to explain them haven’t been great. If you feel I paraphrased you poorly, I apologize. But you still haven’t answered a simple question on any forum:

If I put in $2500 in Dec 2008, and $2500 spread out monthly in 2009, how much is your company’s group resp plan, today?

First of all, I appreciate this website, and have told CC that before. I was only commenting on the fact that, for some people, the information here, or lack thereof, may cause confusion, and lead them to put off a decision that may be better made today. Can we assume that, my being in the industry gives me a little more insight into what people are doing, and what guides them in making their decisions, than you have? My comment was based on my experiences, which are also those of hundreds of other families. (This includes many people that do not invest with Scholarship plans. I get to hear their stories as well.) I have seen a lot, and I can assure you than not everyone in Canada shares your exact opinion on everything.

We do have a stream of comments, on a variety of posts. This begs the question as to why you are asking the same questions that you did elsewhere, when I have already addressed them elsewhere. I have also posted a ton of information, which also begs the question as to why you misrepresent what I am saying. (Is it because you don’t understand my point of view, or are you deliberately trying to twist my words?) I have been entirely clear. In the future, (with other people) if you have a question – ask; don’t assume you know the person’s answer before they give it. Once answered, if you are uncertain to the exact meaning, ask for clarification.

I had started to post on these sites to clarify some glaring mistakes/incorrect assumptions/outright falsehoods. I will state (yet again) that I am not here to convince you that you should be in a Scholarship plan. Everyone should do what is comfortable to them.

I have spent a lot of time forming my posts, to ensure accuracy, and to not offend anyone. Again, my only intent is to make sure correct information it here. That you disregard/ignore the majority of my comments, keep asking the same questions, (which are obviously bait questions) and obviously twist what I am saying, amazes me. I have tried to make sure I don’t offend, and in that same spirit, I am making this statement. Geoff, I won’t respond to any more of your questions, as we are apparently not having a friendly debate. I understand your point of view, and I respect it – you may or may not understand mine, but you obviously don’t respect it. Future words (and I expect these ones included) are just a waste of my time. I apologize if this post is not as polite as I normally am, but I don’t want you to misunderstand my points, so I will not be subtle.
par⋅a⋅phrase
–noun
1. a restatement of a text or passage giving the meaning in another form, as for clearness; rewording.
2. the act or process of restating or rewording.
–verb (used with object)
3. to render the meaning of in a paraphrase: to paraphrase a technical paper for lay readers.
–verb (used without object)
4. to make a paraphrase or paraphrases.

Do not ‘paraphrase’ my words again. You are not good at it, as you can see from the definition above. People can easily read my comments and realize that is the case. You have added your own ‘spin’, and I find your obvious misrepresentation of what I have said to be the equivalent of lying. I have never said, nor implied that I “wouldn’t want my clients to do some work, and gain some financial knowledge.” Please reread my comments, and I hope you will see your error. This is why I started posting – misinformation.

I never ‘brought it up here again’, and I have addressed it elsewhere, so your re-asking here makes me question your motives, ethics, and/or sanity.

To anyone else, feel free to ask a legitimate question, and I will give the best answer that I can.

Cheers,

Mark

And to answer your question: I have found CC and other blogs to be of great value. I think I like the fact that CC and others want to help me learn, whereas you imply that it’s easier to let others live in ignorance. Why wouldn’t you want your clients to do some work, and gain some financial knowledge, paraphrasing your words above.

And “As far as being a vulture, taking interest left by other families, count my kids in. ” Count my kids OUT. I want them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and not pull themselves up by pulling others down.

Lastly, since you bring it up here again, I’ll answer your question on how my funds are doing.

@ DH – My RESP with TD efunds (couch potato classic, 80% equity/20% bonds) was started in Dec 2008 with $2500 and then over the past year I’ve put in just under another $2500 (one more biweekly payment to go). It’s current value is $6,569. Part of that is the 20% bonus from the government, and though I don’t know how to calculate it correctly (anyone?) I think that’s about a 4.63% annual return outside of the government grants.

Can you tell me what my available account balance would be, today, if I made a $2500 investment in a scholarship plan in Dec 2008 and $2500 spread out over the past year as well? (so I paid $5000 total)?

First of all, the Heritage return is net of fees, and their 10 year average is 6.15%. I would say that is pretty good on safe money. The ten year return of Money Market Funds is 2.5%, CSB’s 2.7%, GIC’s 3.5%, and Bond Funds is 4.6%.
Canadian Capitalist: you are perfectly willing to live with fluctuating returns – some people are not. Some people like safe returns – Period. There are many people who invest in CSB for their children, and their own retirement. To promote etf’s as the end all, be all for everyone is insane. It requires the person to do some work, and have some sort of financial knowledge. Some do not, nor do they want to lear. This is why the banks and Financail Planners make so much, as they know this. To say, wihout any doubt that your returns will beat a pooled plan is to say that you know the future. No one does, and timing the market is not something everyone is comfortable with. (not saying that it is bad to try, just that not everyone is comfprtable with it.)

When it comes to safe money, and managed funds, the pooled plans do quite well. As far as being a vulture, taking interest left by other families, count my kids in. What happens to the interest on an RESP at a bank when you pull all the money out after 6 years?

I find it funny that everyone here promotes TD e-series, and commnets on how great they are versus managed funds, and yet a financial planner hops on here, says how he doesn’t like polled plans, and his stuff is better, and no one comments on how his products compare versus etf’s. I really find that odd.

I have sat down with accountants, bankers, and financial planners and they have invested with thier own children with XXXXX*. As a matter of fact, I switch a lot of people from banks and mutual funds. (not etf’s, but they are not for every one either) There is no one product that is the best for every person. Everyone has to feel comfortable with their decision. I understand etf’s, mutual funds, and many other investment options. I invest with XXXXX* with full knowledge and I am quite happy with it.

I have had people decide that they want to invest in real estate, rather than an RESP. Should I tell them that isn’t good? Of course not. It is not my cup of tea, as I don’t want to be a loandloard, but it is fine for them.

Most of the people I sit down with have financial planners, or invest at the bank. When I show them the differences, they like what they see. Eveyone is intitled to their opinion, and yours is clear. That doesn’t mean that people not following you advice are wrong.

I wonder if people will read these blogs, and get scared of pooled plans. They will also get scared of banks and mutual funds. They will plan to research and learn about etf’s, but they put it off. 5 years go by, they haven’t done anything, so they head to the bank. I wonder if there blogs will ahve helped them?

XXXXX – Deleted per commenter request

BTW, that Heritage return, is that net or do scholarship plans still report make-believe returns hoping the tooth fairy would pay the innumerable fees?

With my self directed plan I simply logged in and click on my pre-auth payment plan and hit cancel. It cost us 2 grand of lost enrollment fees from my group plan.

I also assume you will be back posting about your 4-5% return (2% in CST where I am) when stocks have a good year sometime in the next 15 years and return 15% in a 12 month period?

18 years is an awful long time to tell someone you can pay a certain amount of cash. I’ve learned that a lot can change in 18 years and would far rather have the flexibility of a self directed plan, using whatever low cost investments that your comfortable with.

It isn’t reasonable to compare different investments based on a single short time period, especially if the different investments are for long-term objectives like post-secondary education.

As to reasons why you might stop contributing to an RESP over the next few decades, I would think that a job loss, disability, or some other major medical issue would all be good reasons to suspend contributions, at least temporarily.

With a pooled RESP plan, you lose the flexibility to halt contributions if your life circumstances change.

I wouldn’t sign a contract for a cell phone or my TV service that obliged me to pay a fixed amount for 15+ years – why would I sign up for an investment that does exactly that?