How much is university projected to cost in Canada in 18 years?
For a Canadian university education, an October 2009 article at Canada.com says: [...] The study estimates the total price tag of an undergraduate degree at a whopping $137,013 for students living away from home and $101,426 for those staying at home. [...] The College Board offers a calculator.  (Targeted to US residents; not sure how the figures will differ for Canada and other countries.)  Keep in mind that college costs typically increase faster than inflation.  When I attended in 2001-2005, my college's tuition costs increases ranged from 4 to 6%. Here's a great Canadian college/university cost calculator I used; found at Canadian Business - they say: Our tool is divided into three easy   steps. First, calculate the tuition   cost for the university and faculty   you wish to attend. Then, calculate any additional fees   for residence (on campus student   housing), meal plans, athletics,   health and student services. This will   give you the total cost a student will   pay at a Canadian university in   2006/7. Once you know the total annual cost,   take the third step to calculate the   total cost for the duration of the   course of study. Of course, this only calculates what it will cost you NOW, not eighteen years from now, but it's a good start :) I personally do not buy any those so-call forecasts - look no further than the economic forecasts by those experts with PhDs over the last decade or so.  Truth is there are too many factors that affects the tuition fees that far down the road (think inflation, cost of living, the method for which the education is being delivered, anticipated salary for the teachers, the ratio of schools and students, your children's ability to obtain scholarship money, and etc). Put in what you can afford for RESP - I put in $2000 annually per child to take maximum advantage of the 20% government matching.  And be prepare to augment that with additional fund in 18 years.  I am prepared to take on significant loans if my children both decided and qualified for graduated studies in specialized fields in a prestige universities - I have had met people with graduate degrees from Harvard and Cambridge and the obscure sum they (or their parents) paid on tuition are about as good investment as I have ever seen.  Education is one of the best gifts any parent could give to their child.
"I would say yes: it's worth building additional retirement savings on top of a defined benefit pension plan (plans that pay set annual income).  Here are a couple of reasons: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.  While OTPP is probably in good shape, things can and do happen to pension plans.  While there is a provincial system in place to guarantee some of your pension income ($1000/mo) if your plan goes bust, your benefits are not 100% guaranteed. Defined benefit pension plans are designed to provide recurring annual income, like your paycheck when you are employed.  You can't ""take more out"" from your defined benefit pension plan when an emergency comes up.  Whereas, your RRSP (and eventually RRIF, in retirement) are accounts from which you can take out extra in any given year, if necessary. That being said, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) won't let you save as much in your RRSP as other people who don't have pension plans: Normally, individuals in Canada are entitled to save 18% of their earned income, up to a limit ($21000 in 2009) in an RRSP each year.  However, to level the playing field, individuals who are in a pension plan get a ""Pension Adjustment"" (PA) number on their T4 which reduces their available RRSP contribution room.  Otherwise, they'd be able to tax-shelter more income for retirement than others. So, I would suggest if you have the RRSP room, consider using it.  I'd also suggest you look at a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA), especially if you don't have much RRSP room due to the pension adjustment.  If you're not sure whether to use an RRSP or a TFSA, consider both." College costs are increasing 8% per year.  In 18 years that's 4 times the current costs of college.  The [current costs](http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/26/pf/college/college_tuition_cost/index.htm) of college are $21,000 annually for a public 4 year degree, and $42,000 annually for a private 4 year degree.  In 18 years that's $336,000 for a public college bachelor's degree, and $672,000 for a private college bachelor's degree.  Per kid.  Suddenly $900,000 doesn't seem so big. "They already do, it is just sneaky how it is done.  They have created a system with healthcare where we pay up to three times more per capita than any other western country.  They do this by setting up particular legislation and shutting down public options (and anything else that might cut out administration and executive profits).  They don't need to directly tax us in order to keep an unreasonable amount of money flowing to corporate executives and wealthy share holders.  That is without even getting into pharmaceutics and prohibition legislation.  One way they could easily keep money flowing to Hollywood, would be an additional tax refund that applies to ""legitimate"" entertainment costs.  Or perhaps doing as Canada does and adding taxes to storage media.  They can also continue to cut web freedom, options and bandwidth.  Every bit of legislation I see come down the pipe (with only a couple of notable exceptions, such as dadt) has been about protecting profits for the top of the economic pile, at the expense of everyone else.  EDIT:  I would also like to mention that our taxes already fund healthcare, and in fact, we pay so much that we could have a universal system already just with the money we spend via taxes.  It is so hyper-inflated because of the vast amount of profit built into the system at all levels.  http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/OECD042111.cfm http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&amp;id=1258  We have to cut out admin and profits to the hyper-wealthy if we wish to have a reasonable healthcare system.  This chart in particular shows the problem.  http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/images/OECDChart3_1.gif  This was just in 2008, costs have increased since then at the accelerated rate.  So yes, the oligarchy has ways of making us pay without introducing specific new taxation." "The biggest issue is determining how committed you are to this ""niece"". When setting up an account (529/prepaid tuition/Universal Gift to Minors/Coverdell/Roth) you are making a commitment that locks you into some provisions. They all have different amounts of control, and can impact taxes and financial aid. The states involved can even be important. Some will give tax breaks. How they handle state vs private schools and out of state schools will also differ.  The problem is that it is hard enough knowing what a kid 10-18 years from now is going to want to do, or be able to do. The government has crafted some provisions to handle these complex issues: scholarships, going to a service academy, going to a private school, death of the child...what I don't think they have covered is ending the relationship.  The best option is to set aside the money in a regular account, with no special tax provisions; and then when they are close to graduating determine the best way to handle the transfer. Yes you may have given up some tax benefits, but it will still be your money. You will have to determine how this money will be transferred, but that will depend on the tax rules, and financial aid policies in the future. Options include gift to niece, direct payment, graduation gift..." While statistics do not necessarily apply to one individual's particular situation, you may want to google MIT's Wayward Sons report. Among many things, they do an analysis of ROI on college education. It is the highest it has been in history. "Indeed. But it's worse than that. We now know that the brain continues to devolope well into the 20s and a college education might be less effective at age 18. Perhaps this is why businesses complain about not being able to find anyone with ""real world skills"". You think? They've been sitting in a class room for 16 years (or *more*). Other countries don't even start reading education until second or third grade!" "Some years ago, two ""academics,"" Ibbotson and Sinquefield did these calculations. (Roger) Ibbotson, is still around. So Google Roger Ibbotson, or Ibbotson Associates. There are a number of entries so I won't provide all the links." I'm a bot, *bleep*, *bloop*. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:  - [/r/metacanada] [Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Invests US$400 Million in WME│IMG](https://np.reddit.com/r/metacanada/comments/6sdk52/canada_pension_plan_investment_board_invests/)  [](#footer)*^(If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads.) ^\([Info](/r/TotesMessenger) ^/ ^[Contact](/message/compose?to=/r/TotesMessenger))*  [](#bot)