4 Ways That Registered Education Savings Plans Can Save Money for a Child’s College

4 Ways That Registered Education Savings Plans Can Save Money for a Child’s College

When it comes to preparing for a child’s education, there is a whole lot that a person can do. In fact, with the number of choices people have surrounding supporting a child’s education, people might begin to feel at a loss as to what they should do. Thankfully, there are some choices that tend to be more suitable than others. For example, Registered Education Savings Plans from heritage RESP are plans specifically designed to prepare parents to properly set aside money for their child’s education. With a Registered Education Savings Plan, parents will be able to properly organize the money necessary for their children to be able to go to a reputable college. Here are four exact reasons for how this can help parents.

1. The Money Is Not Initially Taxed.
Most people aren’t too much of a fan of having their money taxed, especially when the money is meant to go towards their child’s future college education. With that being said, a Registered Education Savings Plan, otherwise known as RESP, is one way to not have to deal with this issue. Initially, the money that a parent decides to put into a RESP is not taxed. This means that even more money can be saved for the future college education of a child, which is something that most parents will greatly appreciate.

2. There Is a Lot of Time.
Generally, parents will open up Registered Education Savings Plans when the child is first born. After that opening, the RESP is open for the next 31 years, meaning that parents can make contributions throughout the child’s lifetime. Even after those 31 years, most places will generally wait until the end of the 35th year before the RESP expires, although this will vary depending on the terms of the plan. Even after the child finishes high school, there will be a little bit of time where the child can wait to decide which college he or she wants to go to before the RESP closes. This also offers the opportunity for over 30 year’s worth of money to be saved up in a tax-free manner for a child to be able to use to pay off college costs.
heritage RESP
3. Family Plans Are Available.
The idea of having multiple RESPs for each child in a family can get overwhelming for some parents. With that in mind, some places will offer family plans to make it easier to manage multiple children. With family plans in order, parents can make the choice to make more than one contribution at a time for a child or two, and the amounts that are being contributed do not have to be the exact same per child. This also makes it easier to set plans for a child’s future, especially if one of the children proves themselves to be more academically inclined than the other.

4. Sometimes the Government Will Add Money.
Depending on what age a parent starts saving for their child, the RESP might be eligible for a grant or bond given by the federal government. Also depending on the province, there might be some additional contributions. This will help, as there will be even more money in the RESP that the child can use to handle college expenses, while still getting a good education in the process.

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4 Ways to Get a Company Brand Noticed

4 Ways to Get a Company Brand Noticed

The importance of branding should not be overlooked, and circulating your brand has tons of advantages that can lead to clear advantages in a crowded marketplace. Without a doubt, boosting your brand can lead to greater popularity and massive sales revenue. Consider some of the ways that small businesses can showcase a superior brand and rise to the next level. (more…)

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Top 5 Must-Have Small Business Tips

Top 5 Must-Have Small Business Tips

Long gone are the days when people looked forward to being employed forever. As the years pass by, more and more people are starting becoming entrepreneurs everywhere you look at. The entrepreneurship course has even been integrated in education curriculum around the world. Starting a small business is however not as easy as it sounds. There are some common tips and characteristics that one must possess so as to run successful small businesses.

1. Prepare to make sacrifices and be consistent

Many people have the notion that working for someone else requires more commitment and time compared to your own business. This makes them think that opting for an own business is the perfect way to run away from the tedious 9-5 hours. However, once you start your own business and it picks up the work has already begun and you’ll be required to make some serious sacrifices that you might have not anticipated. The business will take all your time, resources, sweat and many other sacrifices before it picks. This means less time with friends, family and colleagues. Once you start reaping fruits you have to be consistent which is a key ingredient to the success of your business. You must do all that is required to remain successful everyday and these long-term positive habits will ensure the success and longevity of your business.

2. Analyzing Competition

In most cases you will not be the only one in the line of business that you decide to venture into. You will face stiff competition from the major players who have been there before and built a reputable brand. To be as successful as them, study and analyze from the competitors and learn from their past mistakes and strengths. Capitalize on this and create more opportunities to make more money.

3. Be organized and keep detailed records

A successful business must be organized. Organization helps one to complete tasks and always stay on top of the goals set. A to-do-list is very important. Another thing is keeping detailed records so that you can be on top of things such as where the business is standing as well as the possible challenges and wins. This will help you to strategize before challenges strike. To learn more, the Thinking Capital website may be able to provide additional insights.

4. Understanding Risks and Rewards

The main tool of a successful business is to take calculated risks. This will allow you to generate amazing skills and rewards when you’re well aware of the involved risks chances are you’ll avoid them. However, sometimes risks face a business unawares and it fails miserably. Picking yourself up and dusting is the way to go. Always keep on keeping on and never stay down even in the face of challenges. Challenges will always pass and you will always rise eventually.

5. Creativity and offering great services

To stay ahead of the competition being creative and offering great customer service is the secret. This is because this will increase your customers loyalty and they’ll even refer more clients to your business. Creativity means that you’re always looking for new and better ways to improve your products and services so as to propel the business.

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5 Ways to Increase Your Social Media Return on Investment

5 Ways to Increase Your Social Media Return on Investment

Social media marketing campaigns aren’t optional for a business. Effective social media marketing now stands as essential for those hoping to generate sales via the internet. Don’t assume the high numbers of people on social media platforms means you can “do anything” on Facebook, Twitter, and the like and see strong sales. Dull campaigns won’t yield dynamic results. To get substantial returns on investment from social media marketing, think about implementing the following five tips:

1.) Write Great Intros on Any Content Shared

Social media content

You do want to stand out from others attempting to draw promotional attention to themselves. Everyone likes to share content on social media to maintain followers and generate engagement. Don’t let the shared content carry the whole show. Craft a nice intro that casts you in your company in a good light. “Worth reading” doesn’t come off as a compelling intro. Create engaging, humorous, informative, and persuasive intros. Doing so could create good impressions. Consumers like to buy from companies that make solid impressions.

2.) Time You Ad Buys to the Right Seasons

Ad Purchase

 

Randomly buying advertisements during the year creates a haphazard approach. With specific products and services, pending money all throughout the year can prove incredibly costly with no guarantees for a decent return. Determine what times of the year social media ad buys deliver strong results and increased capital. A fitness product or service, for example, may do well in January and February when people embrace all those New Year’s resolutions to get in shape.

3.) Measure and Track Analytics

Track Analytics

Analytical tracking tools reveal the “dollars and cents” of all campaigns. How much money have you put into your social media strategies? What do your earnings reflect in light of the investments? If things aren’t going so well, serious thought likely should go into making revisions to the strategy. A clear an honest review of measurements and analytics reveals the direction the campaign ventures. Sticking with something yielding mediocre results isn’t exactly financially beneficial.

4.) Resist the Urge to Spam

Resist the Urge to Spam

Yes, you want your social media channels to contain new and fresh content. You also need to make social media postings to be consistent. Inconsistent posting, commenting, and sharing doesn’t make a social media presence impressive. Going overboard with social media posting can prove disastrous. People don’t like to see their social media feeds loaded with daily promotional posts from the same business. Spamming turns people off to your business. Be judicious with your activity on social media. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing followers and vital capital. Losing followers means losing business.

5.) Invest in Social Media Customer Service Tools

Resist the Urge to Spam

Excellent customer service often helps a business immensely. Companies with large social media followings, however, may find it tough to stay on top of social media due to time and other constraints. The arrival of social media customer service tools may serve as a great assistance to these business owners/social media managers. A multitude of different tools arrived on the social media marketing landscape to offer assistance. Seek out the one that best supports your needs and goals.

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How to Follow Smart Strategies for Debt Consolidation and Management

How to Follow Smart Strategies for Debt Consolidation and Management

Not every person who is dealing with troubling amounts of financial obligations found him/herself in such a position due to poor debt management skills. Totally unexpected problems may emerge that create incredible strains on budgets. Borrowing, while not desirable, becomes unavoidable. Paying back the various obligations might prove difficult. Owing money on several credit cards creates a difficult situation. When the interest rates on the credit cards are significant, repayment becomes even more difficult. Debt consolidation services absolutely can assist someone who is struggling with all manner of unsecured debt.

The key point to understand when seeking help from such services is the debtor has to be really serious about address his/her financial ills. Getting out of debt requires a great deal of discipline and commitment. Only those willing to put the necessary effort to make debts go away are going to see desirable results.

The Shopping Strategy

“Little things” that drive up debt are actual major things. Bad spending habits can become ingrained in a person’s lifestyle. As a result, personal debt management skills are compromised. Deliberate steps to address overspending can yield good results. For example, a basic shopping strategy might help the cause of cutting down on debt.

Purchasing only things on sale cuts down on a grocery budget. Using coupons further cuts down on costs. Cutting back on luxury foods and eating out at restaurants definitely would free money up in a budget. The saved funds could then be directed towards paying the consolidated debt. The repayment process could be made quicker, which makes repayment less expensive.

Implementing a Strategy

Realizing that cutting back on shopping and other expenses are not the same thing as actually implementing the strategy. Only when direct steps are taken to cut down on costs will the desired relief from debt become possible.

Coming up with and implementing a strategy, however, is not easy to do. A person who suffers from debt is not someone who has professional experience addressing debt-related troubles. This is why working with a debt reliefer may prove to be the best thing to do. There is more information available at the Credit Counselling Services of Atlantic Canada website.

Debt Consolidation Services Lend an Assist

Struggling to come up with a plan to pay down debt is not easy or even prudent. Contact a service that offers debt management and consolidation might prove to be the best plan of action. The management component of the service may greatly aid in coming up with small, incremental steps that can be combined to create a solid overall plan.

Once the plan of action is pointed out, the plan can be followed. Or rather, the plan should be followed. Wise clients who understand the value of a debt counselor’s advice are sure to weigh and heed advice.

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What a Chartered Accountant Can Do For Your Business

What a Chartered Accountant Can Do For Your Business

Edison Wen CPA’s are internationally recognised professionals who work in all areas of personal and business finance, including audit, taxation, financial and general management. The CA, or chartered accountant, designation means that the individual is certified and qualified to file a business’s tax return, audit financial statements and business practices, and offer advisory services to clients. Around the world, CAS may fall under different titles. For instance, in the United States, a CA is generally known as a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA).

While accounting firms may offer a number of basic accounting functions such as tax services, only a chartered accountant is licensed and held to the stringent standards to allow them to perform more advanced functions. CAs may specialize in audit and assurance, financial accounting and reporting, management accounting and applied finance, or taxation. Depending on their area of focus, CAs may handle one aspect of a company’s business or all of the company’s financial needs.

Beyond Taxes

Most businesses already contract with an accounting firm to provide at least tax preparation services. Knowledgeable professionals are able to save money and mitigate risk by using their vast tax expertise to prepare the documents. However, CAs can provide many invaluable financial services to businesses of all sizes that go well beyond simple tax preparation.

For example, a CA may offer unique expertise and advisory services in financial planning, auditing for stakeholder or board interests, and providing financial path charts. They may give investment advice including portfolio diversification ideas or advise on the profitability expectations of new or proposed product lines.

Choosing a Chartered Accountant

Your accounting professional should meet or exceed all of the rigorous qualification and licensing requirements of your country, region, and industry. At a minimum, the CA should prominently advertise and be able to produce an active license and proof of credentials such as degree and examination results. Further, your choice should closely align in experience and specialization with your business needs.

Other important factors to consider are such items as communication and trust. Ideally, your relationship with your CA will be long-term and productive. If you prefer casual communication on a constant basis, a freelance chartered accountant may be best. If a formal business communication style better suits you, established accounting firms may suit your needs. Consulting with other trusted business partners such as bankers and legal advisors may be useful for recommendations for hiring a CA.

Image Credit: Udemy Blog

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