High Interest GIC in a RESP | Page 2 | General comparisons | Discussion forum

RESP has so many rules and follow ups. Basically it is a very high maintenance account. Considering max allowed contribution of $50,000 which most people stop at around $32000 due to maxing out the $7200 government grants / bonds, it is not worth the hassle and extra work for many banks. Basically, they don't see a high value for RESP account. 20 years which might not go over $50K ever.
Of course many of them charge you a fee too.

I opened RRSP, LIRA, and TFSA accounts in my local branch in Ottawa. I actually emailed them first and got a reply from the manager. He is so nice and friendly. I asked considering I am a new customer and opening many accounts with funds, would he make an exception for RESP. Their regular rate is 2.5% (I believe, not locked) for RESP. He was okay with the 3.75% in RESP with one condition 🙂 They can't and won't apply for any grants / bonds. This is the TRICK. I basically transferred RESP from previous years which already had those grants / bonds added so didn't need to apply for any! I said sure and got the 5 year RESP for 3.75% as a one time special thing I guess.

And now I am in the process of opening RESP E-Series in TD. What a long process. So far had 2 meeting with the FA! He was clueless. He wasted my time and kept looking around and asking for information! He didn't even know I can open this e-series RESP. So yeah! First appointment we opened a regular RESP. Then 2nd appointment, he changed it to Mutual Fund RESP. And then we filled an application which he sent to somewhere to transfer the Mutual Fund RESP to E-Series RESP. They have already transferred the amount to the new RESP but he said it takes 5-7 business days for the approval (Not sure what they need to approve)! Oh! And yeah he said he needed to send the signed application by regular mail to TD office 😀 So funny! TD doesn't email / fax / upload to portal its own! I just hated my visit to a big 5 but had to do it.

So I am planning (And if I can), when I get the grants and bonds in TD, I will try to see if I can find a good GIC (Or I might just leave the money there as the kids are still so young and we have more than 10 years before needing the money).

Sorry for the very long answer but I tried to be as helpful as possible. Feel free to ask any question here 🙂

PS. Don't ever consider any of those stupid money thieves like KFF (knowledge First Financial). I asked here years ago and everyone told me to not do it. I did it regardless and still regretting the 20% commission they got! $1200 for 2 kids just went into their pocket for nothing.

Loonie said
It seems though that SavetoRetire was in fact opening a registered account (RESP).
It is my impression that a lot of FIs have only partially embraced online banking thus far. We are in a transitional stage.
Speaking of security, spouse was asked for TWO pieces of PHOTO-ID yesterday at TD! They wanted a passport, which is not something we carry around on the streets of Toronto. They finally relented. We've had that account for many years and nothing peculiar has ever happened with our accounts there - except that we've gradually removed most of our money! This is where Meridian wins the day with ease. If we walked in there, somebody would recognize us. We've only been with Meridian for 2 years but we've been at TD for over 30 (same branch) and have had a lot of money there (more than we've ever had at Meridian), but nobody knows us at all. At Meridian, they would not be requiring a passport.  

I have been asked for my passport at Meridian twice . The first time I was there to make my initial deposit by cheque from another FI bearing my name as I didn't open initially at a branch. I believe I had my new client card but was waiting to receive my PIN , otherwise I would have used the ATM. I was told I would eventually have to provide ID to branch to conduct business there and so I told them to close the account and I left . This was my first impression and while trying to make a deposit from myself to myself ! I stewed for a couple of days and then called their head office and after explaining what occured I was told that the branch could not close the account since it wasn't opened there and I could just go ahead and use my new PIN which had arrived and go to an ATM as my account was good to go.
About a year ago I was depositing some money at the ATM at the branch and the machine jammed with my cash in it and the machine went out of service and gave my card back with a cancelled transaction statement. I don't know what would have occured if the branch wasn't open but I went in and an employee went into the machine and retrieved my envelope , which was jammed inside. So we went inside the branch to do the deposit manually and she again asked for driver licence and I said I didn't drive so again was asked for passport . This time I didn't get my back up outwardly and told her I had forgot it at home so she processed the deposit. After reading about Stats Canada's new scheme it increases my resolve to not provide personal information that isn't required. Another reason I avoid doing business in branch. FYI I don't think I look like a frequent flyer

I received this notification from Hubert yesterday promoting Virtual Wealth who offer RESP but not specifically GIC’s.

https://www.virtualwealth.ca/#/landing?partner=sunovacu