Kids Futures vis-a-vis Comic Collector hand-downs

[dadaist]

One of the corniest things I actually find myself believing, even to this day, is that some day my kids will be able to cherish the comics I've accumulated, whether that appreciation be based on a collector level, or on a monetarist one. Who knows really, and its always going to be a gamble, unless of course you collect comics because you enjoy them for yourself, and somehow, along the way, your kids pick-up an appreciation for them as well. And yes, a part of me does still hope there is going to be something that will come out of my collecting interests after I've passed-on, and perhaps part of this has to do with passing my collection down to my kids someday. But it is in my opinion that it would be an injustice to bank on my collection as the sole form of a savings plan for my kids future.

 

On a somewhat related note, I came across this concept a few months ago and I got a chance to speak with one of the companies PR people in great length about the product and the organization. I think the idea rocks, and I wanted to share this with other forumites who may find this idea worthwhile. The only downside is that the program is currently only available to Canadian Residents. However, I have a strong feeling that this idea will likely be available to U.S. residents real soon, and part of my reasoning is that they are working closely with a number of U.S. based companies on a number of rewards programs.

 

The site is KidsFutures.ca

 

The little I know about it is that you need to have a mastercard, and participating retaillers and companies will provide rewards everytime you use your card and quote your membership number. The rewards/points add-up towards an education savings plan that can either be held in trust with Allianz, or any RESP plan you may already have. The nice thing about this is that you don't even have to have an RESP plan, so you can start accumulating points years before you are actually planning to have kids.

 

I personally like the idea as I find myself getting very little use out of all the other points programs offered by my card companies, but something like this, within a twenty year span, can really make a dent in our kids plans for education and their futures.

 

In Canada, you do not get hit with a 20% fee if you use the money towards educational pursuits. However, if you find that your kid decides they would rather use the money from their RESP plan to open a business or buy a car -- or even worse, a copy of Hulk 181 at $25,000 , you can still withdraw the money and use it as they wish. The only thing is you will have to pay a 20% fee if the money isn't used for educational pursuits. I'm not sure how it works in the U.S., but I have heard it is very similar.

 

Any thoughts on this idea fellow forumites?

[joe_collector]

Why are all the cool Reward Points programs on Master Card? This is about the third or fourth interesting one I've found....

[dadaist]

Why are all the cool Reward Points programs on Master Card? This is about the third or fourth interesting one I've found....

 

That's a good question. I remember my wife asking the guy this very question because we both have aeroplan cards with Visa, and she doesn't have a mastercard. Being in the travel industry, she rings through -- no joke -- about 2.5 million each year on the aeroplan card. She recently got a presidents choice mastercard to take advantage of this program, and in some ways, it won't ever compare to the numbers generated on our aeroplan points, but its a start because we are italians, we shop at least twice a month, and italians are well known for their love of food and exorbitant food shopping bills

 

I think that mastercard is more aggresive in its reward commitment than Visa, purely because Visa deals in higher volumes, and have a greater market penetration than all other cc companies. I vaguely remember him (the guy I spoke to from KidsFutures) alluding to this, but I am not 100% certain. IMO, I think its just a way for Mastercard to get into direct competition with Visa, but I don't particularly like the idea of people having two or three cards because its just another way for people to fall further into debt, but if you are good at managing your cc bills, then its not really that big a deal to have a Visa and a Mastercard just to take advantage of rewards programs like this.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that the feds offer a 20% grant on any RESP contribution of $2500 each year, so its great if your intention is to actually use the RESP funds towards your kids eduction. But, if you elect to use the money for any other purpose than education, you will have to pay back the 20% per annum But otherwise, its a pretty solid rewards initiative. Do you agree?

[BachelorOfComix]

Joseph, you need to get your custom title back...........

[chrisco37]

[dadaist]

Joseph, you need to get your custom title back...........

 

 

set me up BOC

 

[joe_collector]

[One thing I forgot to mention is that the feds offer a 20% grant on any RESP contribution of $2500 each year, so its great if your intention is to actually use the RESP funds towards your kids eduction. But, if you elect to use the money for any other purpose than education, you will have to pay back the 20% per annum But otherwise, its a pretty solid rewards initiative. Do you agree?

 

Definitely, assuming you're careful about how much you contribute and diversify the rest. We have a financial timeline of keeping the RESP total (in 17 years) equate to the tuition and books (easy to claim/withdraw) while contributing to bonds and other vehicles for the remainder.

 

I did that because I read the "fine print" and you have to jump through some serious hoops to use the RESP money for anything other than tuition and books. Such as say, renting a non-student housing apartment or buying food or clothes, and I'm not even sure you can do the last two.

 

It seems to all be based on educational receipts and bills required for withdrawal of funds, so be very careful about loading up a RESP.

[dadaist]

It seems to all be based on educational receipts and bills required for withdrawal of funds, so be very careful about loading up a RESP.

 

My understanding is that you can withdraw the funds whenever you want, but the incentive of keeping it for educational purposes is that you avoid getting hit with the 20% fee, based on years a grant kicked in to your overall balance. I'm also unsure about being able to use the funds towards food and living costs (except of course if you live on res, in which case the university will provide proof of boarding). But I wasn't aware of any amortization period... where did you hear about the 17 years? And is this through a specific institution, or a government sancationed amortization period?