𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧?
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞...𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐆:
The basic Canadian Education Savings Grant, or CESG, provides Canadians with 20 cents on every dollar they contribute to an RESP, up to an annual maximum of $500. Therefore if you put invested $2,500, you'd be eligible for the full $500 in grant money available each year.
𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬:
The maximum amount available under the basic grant is $7,200 per child.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲-𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞:
If you don't get the full grant amount each year, any unused grant room accumulates and carries forward until the year a child turns 17. You can go back one year at a time to make up for missed contributions.
Age 15 rule:
One important age to keep in mind for your children is 15. In order to be eligible for any of the grant money, an RESP must be opened before the end of the year a child turns 15 and must have met certain minimum contribution levels. To receive the CESG at 16 and 17, contributions to all RESPs for the child must total at least $2,000 before the end of the year they turned 15, or at least $100 a year in at least four of the years before the end of the year they turn 15, and cannot have been withdrawn.
𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞:
There is no official deadline for making an RESP contribution because you are eligible for a lifetime carryforward amount. However, there are deadlines if you have not contributed to your RESP and your child is 10. If you have not contributed up to his point, 10 is the maximum age that you could begin saving in an RESP and still be able to maximize your benefits through the CESG.
Summary...It's sometimes difficult for families to maximize their education savings for their kids. And although this is usually not an issue as you can always make up unused contributions, one must be aware of these age-specific deadlines if the goal is the maximize the government benefits available within the RESP program.
As always, we want to 𝙩𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐. We are extremely grateful for your attention and consideration. We know there are many other things you could be doing with your time and we commend you for your commitment to growing your wealth!