Yes, as part of the resolutions of the Heritage Subscriber Vote held on May 6, 2021, all Heritage Group and SDO RESP plans were transferred to Family Single Student Plans on March 1, 2022.
For the latest information on the plan transfer and your new Family Single Student Plan, please be sure to take a look at our dedicated plan transfer webpage. You can also learn more about the transfer by reviewing our announcement of its completion.
All Heritage Group and SDO plans were transferred to Family Single Student Plans on March 1, 2022. As part of the transfer, you should have received a plan transfer package in the mail in early May, outlining all details about your new plan.
If you have any further questions about your new Family Single Student Plan, we’re always here to help. Please feel free to give us a call Monday-to-Friday at 1-800-363-7377 or send us an email at contact@kff.ca
Yes, we ask that all Heritage customers create a new secure online account on Knowledge First Financial so that they can access and manage their plan information. To sign up, please follow this link and create your account: https://secure.knowledgefirstfinancial.ca/Public/CreateAccount.aspx
No, you don’t! Once you create your secure online account and register with one of your children’s date of births, all other linked plans will automatically populate and appear in your account.
No, it doesn’t. So long as your child has a plan with Knowledge First Financial, you can use their birthdate to create a secure online account. Once created, all other linked plans will automatically populate in your account.
We recommend creating your secure online account as soon as possible! In doing so, you’ll gain access to many tools and resources that’ll allow you to monitor and make changes to your plan as well as start the withdrawal process, among other things.
Yes, it will. Once you create and register your new Knowledge First secure online account, all plan information and your most recent subscriber banking information will automatically populate in your account. Once this has occurred, we encourage you to confirm its accuracy. If needed, you can easily add a new bank account through your secure account as well.
Please note that your student’s banking information will not be transferred over and should be re-entered if needed.
There are two main types of RESP withdrawals available to you – an Educational Assistance Payment, which should be used if your child is currently in, or planning to get into a post-secondary education program, and an Accumulated Income Payment if your child has finished or will not be going to school.
An EAP is any withdrawal from an RESP that helps finance the cost of your child’s post-secondary education. It is payable to your student. An EAP may consist of funds derived from the Canada Education Savings Grant, the Canada Learning Bond, amounts paid under a provincial education savings program and the earnings on any money saved in the RESP. It is taxed in the hands of the student and should be included as income on their income and tax benefit return for the year.
An AIP allows you to withdraw income earned in your RESP with the intention of not putting it towards the cost of your child’s post-secondary education. An AIP is payable to you, the subscriber, and should be avoided if your child is still interested in going to post-secondary school. An AIP comes with considerable taxation and we recommend giving us a call to go over your options as there may be less punitive alternatives that can help you recover more of your savings, like transferring your income into an RRSP.
We’re available anytime Monday to Friday by phone at 1-800-363-7377 or by email at contact@kff.ca.
With the Family Single Student Plan, you have the ability to use your funds for a wide variety of post-secondary programs! Your beneficiary can study at any post-secondary institution that qualifies for an EAP under the Income Tax Act (Canada). This can include:
In terms of the post-secondary program, they must:
In Canada
Outside of Canada
The Family Single Student and Heritage Group RESP Plan share a very similar fee structure. Common fees that customers can expect to pay under the Family Single Student Plan include management fees that includes administration, custodial and portfolio management and IRC fees.
To learn more about each fee, please review the plan’s overall fee structure here: https://media.knowledgefirstfinancial.ca/Costs-of-Investing-in-the-Family-Single-Student-Plan.pdf
Yes, you can! To apply for a withdrawal, all you have to do is log into your Knowledge First secure online account, and under “Apply for a Withdrawal,” select “Educational Assistance Payment.” From there, all you have to do is simply follow the instructions and select the amount you’d like to withdraw. Once your application is processed by us, you can expect your funds to be transferred to your desired bank account within 2-to-3 business days.
Once your child is registered in a post-secondary program, you can start the withdrawal process whenever you need! To begin, all you’ll need is a Verification of Enrollment Form from your post-secondary institution. After that, all you’ll have to do is request your funds through your Knowledge First Financial secure online account.
Yes, you do. By confirming that your child is currently enrolled in a post-secondary program, you gain complete access to your education savings, including your government grants and the income earned on them.
No, you don’t. With the Family Single Student Plan, you can withdraw funds whenever and however you’d like, provided that your child is enrolled in an eligible post-secondary program. Simply request a withdrawal and your funds will be transferred to your desired bank account within 2-to-3 business days of being processed.
To ensure that you maximize the value of your education savings, we highly recommend giving us a call to help you create a personalized tax-optimized withdrawal strategy. We’re available anytime Monday to Friday by phone at 1-800-363-7377 or by email at contact@kff.ca.
No, not at all! So long as your child is currently enrolled in a post-secondary program, and you have a Verification of Enrollment Form, you’re able to withdraw funds whenever you’d like throughout the plan’s 35-year lifetime.
Once you’ve applied for a withdrawal, you can expect to receive your funds within 2-to-3 business days. If your request requires a review, this may take 5-to-7 business days instead.
Absolutely nothing! By transferring to a Family Single Student Plan, you’re able to withdraw your remaining funds at any time and any way you’d like, subject only to Canadian income tax rules, to help fund your child’s post-secondary journey.
Yes, you can! To ensure this process is done as smoothly as possible, we ask that you contact our Customer Care Team to go over your options and help you transfer the funds. They are available Monday to Friday by phone at 1-800-363-7377 or by email at contact@kff.ca.
Before making any withdrawals, we highly recommend that you contact us to set up a tax-optimized withdrawal strategy that’s tailored to your needs, allowing your education savings to go further. We can be reached Monday to Friday by phone at 1-800-363-7377 or by email at contact@kff.ca.
Yes, you do. By requesting an AIP, you can transfer the income held in an RESP to a RRSP without triggering any penalties provided that you have the RRSP contribution room to do so.
Our Customer Care team would be happy to walk you through the different types of withdrawals, and help you figure out which works best for you. They can be reached Monday to Friday by phone at 1-800-363-7377 or by email at contact@kff.ca.
You can also learn more about the types of withdrawals and the overall process by visiting our website at https://knowledgefirstfinancial.ca/en/resp-withdrawals/.
Not necessarily. Your contributions are yours and will be paid to you unless you direct us to pay it to your student. Income earned in your RESP and any government grants are payable to your student. It’s important to note that if a student authorizes the EAP amount to be paid to you, the subscriber, the student will still be the one that is taxed. If your student finished or is not pursuing a post-secondary education, you can request the income in your plan to be paid to you or rolled over into your RRSP, provided there is contribution room.
We’ve actually already allocated it to your plan! Sales charge refunds are always paid from pre-maturity attrition that accumulates in each Group Plan cohort. At the time of the plan transfer, plans that had not reached their maturity received their applicable share of this pre-maturity attrition as a proportionate asset transfer based on the number of units in their plans.
All remaining pre- and post-maturity attrition income was distributed to Heritage Group Plan customers in the form of a proportionate asset transfer as part of the plan transfer. To learn more about how much you received, please be sure to consult your plan transfer package, which you should have received by mail in early May.