Ask An Adviser  What's better for an RESP - Lump sum payment, or
annual contributions?  Special to The Globe and Mail   Dear
Nancy Woods,  We recently had our first and possibly only
grandchild born. I want to start an RESP for her.  My question
for you is, does it make more sense to contribute a lump sum and
forgo the government grant (CESG) or do I make annual
contributions and take the governments free $500? Signed Bill
Story continues below ad   Dear Bill,  I did some calculations
with regards to your question and found interesting results. I
compared making a lump sum contribution to an RESP that foregoes
most of the CESG versus making a lump-sum contribution at the
beginning, investing the difference in a non-registered account
and transferring just enough to the RESP each year to maximize
the CESG payment.  The lifetime maximum amount you can
contribute for a child into an RESP is $50,000.  Assuming a rate
of return of 5 per cent for 17 years, and that the child starts
a post secondary school educatio