on money

My teenaged daughter often complains about being unlucky, but her registered education savings plan (RESP) suggests anything but: It has grown steadily over the past 17 years, thanks partly to good fortune.

All right, I’ll take a little credit here. I steered steady contributions into low-cost, diversified funds with a few sound stock picks on the side.

But let’s be honest. My daughter was born in November, 2008, when the financial crisis was battering stocks into cheap, unwanted pulp.

The recovery from those lows has been spectacular: The S&P 500 has gained 1,137 per cent, including reinvested dividends. Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index is up 555 per cent, also including dividends.

My daughter’s RESP – tax-sheltered savings that can be put toward the cost of postsecondary

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