--- title: Free Money description: A new era for fixed income is arriving after years of disappointment image: https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hubfs/iStock-1294509741_g0x3ieJ.width-1080.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream-1#main-content) [![Untitled design (3)-1](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(3)-1.png?width=136&height=82&name=Untitled%20design%20(3)-1.png "Untitled design (3)-1")](https://www.keystonewealth.ca/) #    MONEY MATTERS               We discuss money matters because money…matters!         [Contact us](mailto:tannerlewis@keystonewealth.ca) Sep 19, 2024 1:15:46 PM # Free Money [Toronto Star](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/author/toronto-star) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream-1) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream-1) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream-1) Free Money 3:50 Pencils, notebooks and erasers is the focus of back-to-school for the little ones, which is just around the corner. When it comes to post-secondary education, however, family discussions quickly turn to money — and do we have enough to send our child to university or college? ![iStock-1294509741_g0x3ieJ.width-1080](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/iStock-1294509741_g0x3ieJ.width-1080.jpg?width=341&height=227&name=iStock-1294509741_g0x3ieJ.width-1080.jpg)And more than half of Canadians say they are willing to go into debt to pay for their child’s higher education, according to a survey by Embark, an education savings and planning company. A mix of strategies, however, can help students and parents balance saving for education with the current high cost of living. According to Statistics Canada, undergraduate tuition fees averaged $7,076 for the 2023-2024 academic year, a nine per cent hike from the 2019-2020 academic year. ![sacrificing_for_education_torstar.width-1080](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/sacrificing_for_education_torstar.width-1080.jpg?width=999&height=613&name=sacrificing_for_education_torstar.width-1080.jpg)Room, board, books and meals can drive costs much higher.  The best tool for starting savings early and avoiding debt later is the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP). Canadians can hold a range of investments in their RESPs, such as guaranteed investment certificates, exchange-traded funds, stocks and mutual funds, where any growth within the plan is tax deferred.  Eligible adults can open this type of savings account for their child, someone else’s child, themselves, or another eligible adult through most financial institutions, like a bank or credit union. Jason Heath, managing director at Objective Financial Partners in Toronto, says the free money you get through the RESP is “too lucrative to forgo.” Wendy Brookhouse, certified financial planner and owner of Black Star Wealth in Halifax, agrees. The federal government matches 20 per cent of your contributions, up to $500 per beneficiary per year, through the Canada Education Savings Grant. Additional benefits exist for lower-income families, such as the Canada Learning Bond (CLB), in which the federal government contributes up to a lifetime maximum of $2,000 without requiring personal contributions.  Heath adds that some provinces also offer additional grants and bonds if your family income falls under a certain threshold. Along with an individual RESP, there are also family plans for use by more than one beneficiary. Group plans are sold through scholarship plan dealers, but Brookhouse and Heath urge caution around these, which can come with high upfront fees and certain risks.  Because a Group RESP pools all plan members’ contributions, rate comparison site Ratehub.ca warns that you might be required to stick to a specific contribution schedule and often are limited to fixed-income products, which may not align with your investment strategy for education savings.  Brookhouse says you may use a riskier investment strategy when your child is young and temper it later so that it’s “a little more secure” as your child nears the age of enrolling in a post-secondary institution. Canadians can contribute up to a lifetime maximum of $50,000 to their RESP for each beneficiary. After that, Brookhouse and Heath say you have several options. One option is a TFSA, which allows you to contribute and withdraw funds tax-free. (The maximum TFSA dollar limit is $7,000 for 2024.) In contrast, your beneficiary, typically your child, must pay tax on funds withdrawn from an RESP. And contributions to a TFSA or RESP are not tax-deductible.  How much parents need to save up in RESP is circumstantial. “I often talk to clients about balancing helping their kids and spoiling them to the point where they may not appreciate the value of a dollar or the value of their education,” says Heath. By Srivindhya Kolluru | Contributing Columnist Aug. 12, 2024 [Financial Advisor](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/financial-advisor), [University](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/university), [fixed income](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/fixed-income), [School](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/school) ## Related posts [![](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/iStock-1327680069.width-1080.jpg?height=200&name=iStock-1327680069.width-1080.jpg)](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream) [Financial Advisor](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/financial-advisor), [Interest Rates](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/interest-rates), [fixed income](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/fixed-income) ## [THE TIDES ARE FINALLY SHIFTING!](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream) [Financial Post](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/author/financial-post) Aug 1, 2024 1:08:12 PM After more than a decade of dismal fixed-income performance, with Canadian indexes eking out low... [Read more](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream) [![](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/back%20to%20school1.jpg?height=200&name=back%20to%20school1.jpg)](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/back-to-school-budgeting) [Financial Advisor](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/financial-advisor), [Budget](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/budget), [School](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/school), [RESP](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/resp), [Summer](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/summer) ## [Back-to-School Budgeting](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/back-to-school-budgeting) ![Picture of Tanner Lewis, Financial Advisor; Keystone Wealth | Aviso Wealth](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(3).png?width=50&name=Untitled%20design%20(3).png) [Tanner Lewis, Financial Advisor; Keystone Wealth | Aviso Wealth](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/author/tanner-lewis) Aug 20, 2025 8:21:51 AM "Managing Education Expenses and Saving for Future Education" As summer fades and fall approaches,... [Read more](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/back-to-school-budgeting) [![](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/iStock-1148264261_UJaOAgb.width-1080.jpg?height=200&name=iStock-1148264261_UJaOAgb.width-1080.jpg)](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream-1-0) [Financial Advisor](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/financial-advisor), [University](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/university), [fixed income](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/fixed-income), [School](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/tag/school) ## [Loud budgeting’](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream-1-0) [Toronto Star](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/author/toronto-star) Sep 19, 2024 4:30:50 PM Hands down, the most important financial skill every post-secondary student needs to learn is... [Read more](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream-1-0) [facebook-f icon](https://www.facebook.com/keystonewealthmanagement/) [linkedin-in icon](https://www.linkedin.com/company/keystonewealthmanagement) [instagram icon](https://www.instagram.com/keystonewealthmanagement/) --- [![Keystone Wealth | Aviso Wealth](https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/KWM%20AW%20Logo.png?width=1946&height=653&name=KWM%20AW%20Logo.png "Keystone Wealth | Aviso Wealth")](http://keystonewealth.ca) 190 Nelson St. W, Virden, Manitoba R0M 2C0 Copyright © 2024, Keystone Wealth Management ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Toronto Star", "url" : "https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/author/toronto-star" }, "dateModified" : "2024-09-19T18:19:11.795Z", "datePublished" : "2024-09-19T18:15:46.000Z", "headline" : "Free Money", "image" : [ "https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hubfs/iStock-1294509741_g0x3ieJ.width-1080.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/money-matters/advisorstream-1", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.keystonewealth.ca/hubfs/KWM%20AW%20Logo.png" }, "name" : "Keystone Wealth Management" } } ```