Financial Adviser Feature

Recently I've wondered if you, the investor, would appreciate having a financial adviser or two (independent of each other and definitely not affiliated with Heritage) available to answer RESP questions and to provide guidance whenever possible.

If you'd like the help of someone like this please let me know.

Should you pull your money out?

This weekend there were new postings on the Red Flag Deal's thread, "What's Wrong With Heritage Education Funds?", that deal further with the loss of thousands of dollars upon maturation of a fund, and also, with pulling your money out of the fund company early. People are taking a loss upfront to avoid major losses down the road. It crossed my mind to close our account as we'd already lost thousands but, if we'd taken our money out we'd have lost even more.

Currently, we are paying a minimal amount per month to mitigate risk with Heritage. But... did we do right thing? I wonder now if we should have cut all ties with them when we were going through the investigation? For us, we were fighting to get our money back from them. That didn't really work out. Thoughts like this can keep a person up all night!

What do you think? Do you risk staying the course and hope it works out? Or cut your losses and loose money?

What's wrong with Heritage Funds(RESP)?

There are a lot of people who have been taken advantage of by Heritage Education Funds. Here is a link to another thread: Whats Wrong With Heritage Funds Resp?  I recommend you have a read.

It's important for you to post your questions, thoughts and your concerns on our blog too. We need to inform and educate our fellow investors. I will keep searching the Net for threads such as these in order to help "the cause".

Staying Informed & Making The Right Choice for You!

I'd like to point out a new link we've added to the site called, Choosing the Right RESP from the Government of Canada website: It illustrates the differences between RESP plans. Take a moment to explore the site it's very helpful! :)

The Gall!

A side story:
Just around the time the investigation with Heritage & OBSI was coming to a close, we discovered we are expecting baby #2. Do you know that despite my obvious disdain for the company they asked me if I would like to open a new account! The gall! There truly is no end to their ruthlessness. They offered me discounts and various saving options. Needless to say I declined.

Cautionary Tales for New Parents/Investors

I'm thrilled to see that there has been quite a lot of dialogue surrounding this subject matter. It's important to keep up the chatter so new parents realize that they have options for RESPs beyond the aggressive sales tactics of Heritage Education Funds. I applaud you all for sharing your feedback!

While most of you seem to have unfortunately seen the light, I see there are people in support of Heritage Education Funds. Some who have very specific accounting type info... I'm not at all suggesting you are an employee of the company ;)... and others who seem to have gotten lucky or rather, their luck has not yet run out. Give it time... there is always a wrinkle.

Since my original post, I've been through an investigation involving said company for which OBSI, an Ombudsman, was required (supported by Heritage Education Funds). It took well over a year to go through the whole process! I wrote countless emails, letters of complaint, forms had to be filled out and telephone conversations had to be written out and emailed/faxed to all involved parties.

In the end, we lost thousands of dollars and I still have to contribute monthly until my child goes to school. Otherwise, I would have lost even more or all of my contributions if I'd chosen to let my account go dormant. All over a clerical error made on the part of a Heritage employee! What a nightmare. I'm holding my breath until the day comes when we need to withdraw the money. I'm quite certain that will not go smoothly. Sounds all doom and gloom but given their track record...

A word of unsolicited advice... not matter who you are dealing with... PLEASE KEEP RECORDS OF ALL YOUR CONVERSATIONS IN PERSON, EMAIL & TELEPHONE FROM THE BEGINNING OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS. It could save you and your family a lot of grief in future dealings should anything go wrong.

A Vunerable Time

You are about to be admitted into the hospital to have a baby and you are trying to make sure all bases are covered. Is the baby's room ready, are we ready, should I breast feed, etc.? Issues like whether or not you need to set up a stem cell account and do I want an epidural or will I be that super woman, are floating through your head.

After the glorious birth of your baby all of these concerns seem like distant thoughts. Now there are new concerns. Will I ever sleep again? Can I do this? Is the baby eating enough? All legitimate and common thoughts.

The most wonderful thing happens while at the hospital, you receive a "Welcome Package". It has all sorts of informative literature from nursing, safety, tele-help numbers, and saving for your child's future. Who is right there in the mix? Heritage Education Funds / Heritage RESP. Wow! I hadn't thought of that.

They are so wonderful in the way they help you set up a SIN number, health card, bank accounts and Passports. Incredible assistance all within 2 months of the baby's birth. You can't image when you'd have done all this... you're exhausted! The helpful representative now switches gears and gets you setup early with a savings plan for your child's future. Let's do it!

Here's where things get dicey...