I'm kind of curious what kind of rates of return we're getting on our investments. Could anyone look at this chart and tell me what kind of return I've received for this one time purchase with USC/KFF made back in Dec 2002? According to my calculations it's something like 2.9% but wouldn't mind confirming?
On another note, we've (sadly) been investing with this company since our first born back in 2002 and then for our daughter in 2005. We made a couple of initial lump sum contributions and then started $25/month. So not a lot. By the time they'll be ready for university/college I figure there will be something like under $10K each taking into account CESG + the earned interest. So question, are we allowed to take everything out in one shot for the first year if there are enough legit school expenses? Let's say my daughter is going to go to Harvard and costs are $20K the first year. Could I use all of her $10K at once or will they make a stink and try to spread the $10K over X number years?
Knowing what I know now, I really regret signing up with this company and seeing how poorly the investment has turned out. I think like many other parents, we were overwhelmed with the information plus the pressure of being brand new parents just made it seem like it was a good deal. I also regret telling others to sign up for it as well back when we did. Our only saving grace was that we couldn't afford to invest very much back then hence the lowly $25/month for each kid. In the past couple of years we've been more financially stable and are now trying to catch up on their missed out CESGs and have opened up separate RESPs at TD for them. Even if the investments don't yield very much % wise, just getting the full CESG payout is enough for me since it's basically a 20% ROI right away. As far as I'm concerned the rest of the investment earnings are just gravy.
Can't say I'm looking forward to speaking with these people in a couple of years when my son is going to be ready to head to college/university.
On another note, we've (sadly) been investing with this company since our first born back in 2002 and then for our daughter in 2005. We made a couple of initial lump sum contributions and then started $25/month. So not a lot. By the time they'll be ready for university/college I figure there will be something like under $10K each taking into account CESG + the earned interest. So question, are we allowed to take everything out in one shot for the first year if there are enough legit school expenses? Let's say my daughter is going to go to Harvard and costs are $20K the first year. Could I use all of her $10K at once or will they make a stink and try to spread the $10K over X number years?
Knowing what I know now, I really regret signing up with this company and seeing how poorly the investment has turned out. I think like many other parents, we were overwhelmed with the information plus the pressure of being brand new parents just made it seem like it was a good deal. I also regret telling others to sign up for it as well back when we did. Our only saving grace was that we couldn't afford to invest very much back then hence the lowly $25/month for each kid. In the past couple of years we've been more financially stable and are now trying to catch up on their missed out CESGs and have opened up separate RESPs at TD for them. Even if the investments don't yield very much % wise, just getting the full CESG payout is enough for me since it's basically a 20% ROI right away. As far as I'm concerned the rest of the investment earnings are just gravy.
Can't say I'm looking forward to speaking with these people in a couple of years when my son is going to be ready to head to college/university.