There are three keys to raising children that become financially responsible and independent children.

  1. Model – it for them
  2. Teach – it to them
  3. Save – for them

Save

Saving for our children is a great thing and it’s important. It won’t be nearly as helpful, however, if we aren’t 1) modeling, and 2) teaching our children well.

Saving for our children should be the third step in the process.

If you’re like most parents who think about saving, you think about saving for university. Helping them with their education. This is a great thing to save for, and the RESP can do a good job for that.

But what if they do not want to go to university? Or maybe they do, but they want to travel the world first? What if they want to do missions? What if they want to start their own business? *the amount of young people coming out of high school and starting their own online business is growing rapidly* What if they are planning a wedding?

There are so many things that I think we would like to help our children with when they get older but we often just put money into the RESP – which is really only helpful if they attend school.

There are other savings options out there, which put you and your children in control as to how those saved funds are used, and more flexibility as to when the saved funds are used. Saving options that allow your children to fund their goals, no matter what they are.

These other strategies can be used alongside an RESP so your children have some money for school as well as other things or can be used as a replacement to the RESP.

When I think about saving for my children, I think about how my saving can help their future families. I think generationally. How am I financially building into the generations to come?

When you start saving for your kids, think about why you’re saving for. What do you want for your children? What do you want the money you are saving to do for them? Different savings tools are better suited for different goals.

INFO merv mbs