Reader Question – How Much Should You Save In Your RESP?

by Mike Holman

George asks: I bought your RESP book and have been a long-time reader of your blog. I have a question I’m hoping you can help me with, but it you don’t have time I totally understand. My question is this: at what point is an RESP ‘big enough’ that we should discontinue contributing to it? […]

2 comments Read the full article →

So You Are Debt Free – Now What?

by Mike Holman

A friend of mine eliminated his mortgage a couple of years ago at age 35 and planned to save a good portion of the resulting extra cash flow.  So far he has just spent the extra money, even though he knows he should be saving more. My wife and I had a big goal to pay […]

11 comments Read the full article →

Linkstuff – Pinery Provincial Park Edition

by Mike Holman

Welcome back!  Hope everyone had a good summer. I know I did. One of the great things we did this summer was camping.  We only only did one weekend doing tent camping, and the rest were in a Yurt or a Cabin which is a new feature in some Ontario provincial parks.  Basically it’s a […]

5 comments Read the full article →

Family Accounts vs Individual, Contribution Amounts, Best Bank – RESP Reader Questions

by Mike Holman

Anne writes: Looking for advice… We have three children ages 7, 5 and 3. We have a family account RESP setup through Nesbitt Burns but need to switch advisors. We have no other affiliation with Nesbitt Burns and therefore are looking into transferring our account to one of the major banks. I have 3 questions: […]

5 comments Read the full article →

LinkStuff – Good Samaritan Edition

by Mike Holman

Every once in a while I like to highlight something positive that someone has done.  Last year I wrote about the nice guy who didn’t get mad when my son ran a shopping cart into his car at Canadian Tire and now I have another story. This week, I tried out a new pannier (bike bag) […]

2 comments Read the full article →

House Buyers – Is 20% Down Payment Always Better?

by Mike Holman

In Canada, if you buy a house and have less than a 20% down payment, you have to pay a CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) fee to insure the mortgage.  It should be the goal of all home buyers to have a larger down payment, but it’s not always possible. One scenario is where someone […]

12 comments Read the full article →

RESP Question – How To Distribute Contributions And EAPs In Family RESP Account

by Mike Holman

Reader Lloyd had an RESP withdrawal question about how contribution money and non-contribution money can be distributed to different beneficiaries: Hello Mike, I’m trying to find information about how RESP withdrawals work. Can a family plan pay all contributions to one beneficiary and all the EAP to another beneficiary? I’ve tried searching all over different […]

1 comment Read the full article →

Why The Facebook IPO Was A Success

by Mike Holman

Last weeks much anticipated Facebook IPO ( Initial Public Offering – otherwise known as the day Facebook sold part of the company to the public) ended up being a crushing disappointment.  Or so it would seem to anyone reading the negative business media.  I’m of the opinion however, that the IPO was a huge success. […]

1 comment Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →