“Follow the money” is a phrase that is often bandied about.  However, if you want to understand what is truly important to someone, don’t follow the money: follow the time and attention that is applied to that account. And no account gets more attention than an RESP.

At MVP Wealth, we have the privilege of helping a lot of different types of accounts for our clients.  None attracts as much attention as the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP).

It's not because they're the largest accounts. Most of the time, they aren't. It's because of what they're for.

For those who are unfamiliar, an RESP is an account reserved for post-secondary education into which parents or grandparents can contribute. The account attracts a generous government grant and its contents can remain in a tax-deferred environment for up to 35 years.

The accounts are elegant (read: complicated!) in the way that financial institutions track contributions, grants and investment income and in the strategies that can be applied to withdraw those funds tax-efficiently.

However, an RESP is never really about the money or the investments. It's about the child whose name is on it. The pure, untainted potential of a young Canadian for whom the world is their oyster. The one you are picturing walking into a lecture hall, or a trade shop, or wherever their educational curiosity leads.

Every contribution that is made, every grant that is collected, and every planning review is about a parent or grandparent who excitedly wants to provide opportunity for someone they love.

We see it every day at MVP Wealth. And we will see it increasingly this month as tuition fees for the 2026 – 2027 Fall semester will be due soon. Clients who barely glance at their own accounts will call to get advice and counsel on how to optimize the value of the account and the tax treatment of the withdrawals. If you ask us, that's love disguised as a spreadsheet.

It's also a great lesson on how these same clients should consider the larger accounts that we advise them on. At MVP Wealth, we encourage clients to attend to their retirement accounts with the same vigilance they apply to their RESPs and with that same refusal to leave free money or missed opportunities on the table.

If your family's RESP hasn't had a proper review in a while, we're always happy to take a look. It's part of what Money, Values, and Purpose means to us at MVP Wealth.