Estate planning is one important piece of planning for your family’s future - investing is another.
That's why we've partnered with Wealthsimple — a Canadian company using smart technology to make investing simple and affordable. Using Wealthsimple, you can open an investment account, like a RRSP, TFSA, and RESP, all from the comfort of your home, in just five minutes.
Survey: 1 in 5 Parents Don’t Have Key Financial Products for Their Children
Having kids has a huge impact on your finances. In a new survey we conducted, we found that 1 in 5 (17%) of Canadian parents haven’t checked off any of the three key financial to-dos:
- Creating a will
- Getting life insurance
- Opening an RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan)
Over half (52%) of parents don’t have a will in place, and that number jumps to two-thirds (65%) amongst parents with minor children. Of those surveyed, parents were more likely to have life insurance (66%) vs. a will (48%) or an RESP (27%), and millennial parents were less likely to have a will (77%) and life insurance (62%), but more likely to have an RESP (34%).
Willful x Wealthsimple
In order to help parents check off these to-dos, we have partnered with innovative financial company Wealthsimple to make it easier to open an RESP and create a will online in less than 20 minutes.
It’s crucial for parents to have a solid estate plan in place, since if anything were to happen to them, it outlines who would care for their minor children and how they would receive their inheritance. But we know that the last thing new parents are likely thinking about is creating an estate plan or taking care of other financial tasks because time (and sleep) are at a premium.
That’s why we’ve partnered with Wealthsimple to make it easier for parents to check these things off their to-do list online with exclusive Wealthsimple offers for Willful customers. Our mission is to provide peace of mind for Canadian families by empowering them to make better financial decisions without breaking the bank.
Wealthsimple makes financial products and advice accessible and affordable to everyone through technology, and its RESP is the first fully-digital option in Canada — no paperwork or bank branch visits required. Wealthsimple’s RESPs are invested in smart, low-cost, diversified portfolios so parents’ education savings grow over time. Contributions to an RESP receive matching grants from the government, and some families are eligible for additional funds.
“An RESP is one of the best personal finance deals out there — it’s essentially free money from the government for your child’s education,“ said Michael Allen, Portfolio Manager, Wealthsimple. ”Setting one up is a financial must-do for parents, as is drafting a will. With online services like Wealthsimple and Willful, these tasks can now be checked off your list during nap time.“
Read more about how parents can prepare financially for children in Wealthsimple’s guide.
Survey Methodology
From June 14 to 17 2019, a survey was commissioned by Willful with a representative sample of 653 online members of the Angus Reid Forum who are parents. The survey was conducted in both English and French.
Read our full press release.
