Comments for twinutero http://twinutero.org Germinal writings on parenting multiples Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:15:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Ann A http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-894 Ann A Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:15:28 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-894 Adeel, from what I understand, if you stay with Group plan, you will get you principal back in the first year (you are correct) and the rest will be divided over four years and given to your child. The money is never sent to school (RESP regulations I believe) So the only thing you have to do is to prove that your child is in school. You get to use the funds however you want. So the only condition is your child has to be a student. If one child doesn't go to school, then you an transfer it to another child (the whole amount, again it's RESP regulation) So Adeel, if you have more money then you need, then great, you have a extra for your family!!! Adeel, from what I understand, if you stay with Group plan, you will get you principal back in the first year (you are correct) and the rest will be divided over four years and given to your child. The money is never sent to school (RESP regulations I believe) So the only thing you have to do is to prove that your child is in school. You get to use the funds however you want. So the only condition is your child has to be a student. If one child doesn’t go to school, then you an transfer it to another child (the whole amount, again it’s RESP regulation) So Adeel, if you have more money then you need, then great, you have a extra for your family!!!

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Adeel http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-893 Adeel Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:39:50 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-893 Hi Ann I guess the question is that will this easy to get the remaining money to spend on something else? or there some condition applies e.g age of kid, number of years in school etc. Or they will return all the money with no question ask after 4 years in school? Thanks AD Hi Ann

I guess the question is that will this easy to get the remaining money to spend on something else? or there some condition applies e.g age of kid, number of years in school etc. Or they will return all the money with no question ask after 4 years in school?

Thanks

AD

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Adeel http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-892 Adeel Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:33:26 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-892 Cathi I have three kids line up same way $167/month. I gave explain of one my kids as that was easy to explan in the group calculation. That is surprised me. Here CST says you will get your principal right away at maturity http://www.cst.org/index.cfm?id=14210. I dont know why they did not give you. (Because some condition applied to your case as you cancell the contribution). CST should clear these thing on there website. CST reps can not explain in detail if you ask it is all verbal and no written prove etc. Call head office i have to take day off from work as i have to wait 45 minutes plus to take to someone. Take example of my one kid. For instanse i get 30000 on the maturity. and 35000 EAP based on the statement they sent to me. How they distribute this EAP each year in school? they send directly to us or school ? How about accomdation if kids stay with us during school? If i cancel the contribution of my one kid. Will CST transfer the EAP (if available) from one kid to other kid. As i remember CST reps mentioned that we can do that. In my initial post i mentioned there are lots of variable with CST which is the enemy. Thanks AD Cathi

I have three kids line up same way $167/month. I gave explain of one my kids as that was easy to explan in the group calculation.

That is surprised me. Here CST says you will get your principal right away at maturity http://www.cst.org/index.cfm?id=14210. I dont know why they did not give you. (Because some condition applied to your case as you cancell the contribution). CST should clear these thing on there website. CST reps can not explain in detail if you ask it is all verbal and no written prove etc. Call head office i have to take day off from work as i have to wait 45 minutes plus to take to someone.

Take example of my one kid. For instanse i get 30000 on the maturity. and 35000 EAP based on the statement they sent to me. How they distribute this EAP each year in school? they send directly to us or school ? How about accomdation if kids stay with us during school?

If i cancel the contribution of my one kid. Will CST transfer the EAP (if available) from one kid to other kid. As i remember CST reps mentioned that we can do that.

In my initial post i mentioned there are lots of variable with CST which is the enemy.

Thanks

AD

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Ann A http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-891 Ann A Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:23:53 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-891 Cathi, so what if she get a whopping 82,180 and the school will only cost $40000. Isn't it a good thing that she has money that she can spend on something else. When is too much money a bad thing??? I am saving $100 a month for 3 of my kids. I hope at the end I will get more or less $50000 for each. Honestly, if they live on heir own in Ontario, not Quebec(different cost), it might not be enough. If by some chance it is enough and even more then I need, then great, my kids will start their adult life with education and some savings. What am I missing? Cathi, so what if she get a whopping 82,180 and the school will only cost $40000. Isn’t it a good thing that she has money that she can spend on something else. When is too much money a bad thing??? I am saving $100 a month for 3 of my kids. I hope at the end I will get more or less $50000 for each. Honestly, if they live on heir own in Ontario, not Quebec(different cost), it might not be enough. If by some chance it is enough and even more then I need, then great, my kids will start their adult life with education and some savings. What am I missing?

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by NewDad http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-890 NewDad Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:15:53 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-890 Thank you all for your comments and special thanks to Stephen Smith for his input. I am expecting a sales rep from C.S.T. Consultants Inc. in less than hour but I wish I could call him and tell him not to bother coming over. It really bothers me that they had all our personal information when they called us last night. I will follow up with them and our hospital to figure out if they actually sold our personal info to C.S.T. Consultants Inc . This will be a good story for CBC the fifth state program :o) Thank you all again for your input. Thank you all for your comments and special thanks to Stephen Smith for his input. I am expecting a sales rep from C.S.T. Consultants Inc. in less than hour but I wish I could call him and tell him not to bother coming over. It really bothers me that they had all our personal information when they called us last night. I will follow up with them and our hospital to figure out if they actually sold our personal info to C.S.T. Consultants Inc . This will be a good story for CBC the fifth state program :o )
Thank you all again for your input.

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Cathi http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-889 Cathi Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:00:23 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-889 Hi Adeel, I originally thought you had a lot of money tied up in CST in one of your earlier comments but I thought you had a few kids you were providing for. But it seems the plan is for one son, right? For my first son I cancelled some units back in 1996 so I'm pretty sure you can do that too if you find that you will not be needing all your investment. From my calculations with your payment of $167 per month will equal $34,272 in principal after 18 years minus aproximately $3500 in enrollment fees. You will get half of that back when your son graduates. But to start off with, you will receive in the first year your total principal amount minus the enrollment fees which will make it $30,772. In my case and I'm not saying this will happen to you, I received the principal the first year, half of my principal the second year and half the third year. I'm assuming the same for the fourth year. So if that were true for you then you would get approximately $17,136 x 3 years is $51,408. All together you would get over the 4 years a whopping $82,180. That's way too high for university costs as I outlined in my previous comment. Our costs were more like $40,000 for 4 years(including acccommodations out of town). And you will not get anything is he decides to not go on after first year. All you get is your principal the first year. No guarantees. Also it doesn't matter where your son goes to school you will get that amount based on your units. If your son goes to school in Europe you will be ok. You really have no way of knowing what your son will want to do after high school. You have a limited time too. They allow 1 year off I believe. Remember things might have changed with CST since I signed up in 1990. hope this helps. I'm no expert by any means, just telling you what happened to me. Maybe talk to someone at head office. That's what I did and they were quite helpful. Hope this helps you figure out all the ins and outs of CST. I assume you know about the grant from the Federal government which gives about $200 per year while you son in high school. Cathi Hi Adeel,
I originally thought you had a lot of money tied up in CST in one of your earlier comments but I thought you had a few kids you were providing for. But it seems the plan is for one son, right? For my first son I cancelled some units back in 1996 so I’m pretty sure you can do that too if you find that you will not be needing all your investment. From my calculations with your payment of $167 per month will equal $34,272 in principal after 18 years minus aproximately $3500 in enrollment fees. You will get half of that back when your son graduates. But to start off with, you will receive in the first year your total principal amount minus the enrollment fees which will make it $30,772. In my case and I’m not saying this will happen to you, I received the principal the first year, half of my principal the second year and half the third year. I’m assuming the same for the fourth year. So if that were true for you then you would get approximately $17,136 x 3 years is $51,408. All together you would get over the 4 years a whopping $82,180. That’s way too high for university costs as I outlined in my previous comment. Our costs were more like $40,000 for 4 years(including acccommodations out of town). And you will not get anything is he decides to not go on after first year. All you get is your principal the first year. No guarantees. Also it doesn’t matter where your son goes to school you will get that amount based on your units. If your son goes to school in Europe you will be ok. You really have no way of knowing what your son will want to do after high school. You have a limited time too. They allow 1 year off I believe. Remember things might have changed with CST since I signed up in 1990. hope this helps. I’m no expert by any means, just telling you what happened to me. Maybe talk to someone at head office. That’s what I did and they were quite helpful. Hope this helps you figure out all the ins and outs of CST. I assume you know about the grant from the Federal government which gives about $200 per year while you son in high school.
Cathi

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Adeel http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-888 Adeel Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:27:31 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-888 Cathi Very well said, they definately exaggerate, that is why i have 17 units now in just three years and seems to me it is too much? and question coming to my mind what happens if my son stay with me during his educatioin. Will they still get the EAP for accomadation? How this will work. Thanks AD Cathi

Very well said, they definately exaggerate, that is why i have 17 units now in just three years and seems to me it is too much? and question coming to my mind what happens if my son stay with me during his educatioin. Will they still get the EAP for accomadation? How this will work.

Thanks

AD

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Cathi http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-887 Cathi Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:48:58 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-887 Ann, I say that CST exaggerates because they do. I have a cost projections sheet that was given to me by my salesperson and it states that it would cost $96,000 in 2008 for 4 years of post secondary education. With what I know now after having 1 son graduate and another graduate in a year, the cost is only $40,000 each which is a far cry from $96,000. They just want parents to buy more units. They suggest 12 units to cover tuition and accommodation. I would have had to pay $270 per mnth, $3,240 per year for a product that is beyond what I need. No wonder people forfeit their enrollment fees at that cost. Cathi Ann, I say that CST exaggerates because they do. I have a cost projections sheet that was given to me by my salesperson and it states that it would cost $96,000 in 2008 for 4 years of post secondary education. With what I know now after having 1 son graduate and another graduate in a year, the cost is only $40,000 each which is a far cry from $96,000. They just want parents to buy more units. They suggest 12 units to cover tuition and accommodation. I would have had to pay $270 per mnth, $3,240 per year for a product that is beyond what I need. No wonder people forfeit their enrollment fees at that cost.
Cathi

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Ann A http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-886 Ann A Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:31:05 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-886 Stephen, I totally respect your opinion, I am sure you provide great service to your high net worth clients. I stick to my choice of not believing in investing RESP in Mutual Funds and paying huge MER for that and not being sure if I won't lose my money right before I need it. I know MER might not go directly to a person selling me the RESP, but it does go to the bank. And you have to admit banks are not poor. However, I do believe in putting my RRSP into Segregated Funds, and sadly pay huge fees, but that's just life. Respectfully Stephen, I totally respect your opinion, I am sure you provide great service to your high net worth clients.
I stick to my choice of not believing in investing RESP in Mutual Funds and paying huge MER for that and not being sure if I won’t lose my money right before I need it. I know MER might not go directly to a person selling me the RESP, but it does go to the bank. And you have to admit banks are not poor. However, I do believe in putting my RRSP into Segregated Funds, and sadly pay huge fees, but that’s just life. Respectfully

]]> Comment on Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan RESPs: Beware by Stephen Smith http://twinutero.org/2008/01/canadian-scholarship-trust-fund-resps-beware/comment-page-3/#comment-885 Stephen Smith Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:06:58 +0000 http://twinutero.org/?p=47#comment-885 Ann, please be assured that I have no agenda to crucify, or even disrespect anyone or any product. As I have said earlier in the blog, I do not market RESP's. I set them up from time to time, more as a favor for the high net worth clients my company serves and I derive no personal benefit from doing so. If I make an observation about a plan it is because I feel that it may be of some service to those who visit this site hoping to glean either the experiences of other parents or some qualified, professional opinion on the matter. My level of licensing allows me to recommend any type of investment product and my decision not to recommend collective RESP's is based on my objective view that they are a fundamentally poor option. In the days when I did derive my income from direct sales activity, it was tempting to offer collectives as the commissions paid are very attractive. I am glad that objectivity prevailed. Ann, please be assured that I have no agenda to crucify, or even disrespect anyone or any product. As I have said earlier in the blog, I do not market RESP’s. I set them up from time to time, more as a favor for the high net worth clients my company serves and I derive no personal benefit from doing so.

If I make an observation about a plan it is because I feel that it may be of some service to those who visit this site hoping to glean either the experiences of other parents or some qualified, professional opinion on the matter.

My level of licensing allows me to recommend any type of investment product and my decision not to recommend collective RESP’s is based on my objective view that they are a fundamentally poor option. In the days when I did derive my income from direct sales activity, it was tempting to offer collectives as the commissions paid are very attractive. I am glad that objectivity prevailed.

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