RRSP: you put money in, which can be deducted from your income for tax purposes. While in the RESP, the money can then be invested in any number of investment products. To find out which investment mix is best for you, sit down for a conversation with your financial advisor and discuss. It's just too big a topic to have here. When your kids decide that they do actually want to go to school, they can then withdrawal that money and put it toward their education. And again like an RRSP, that money, once withdrawn, is taxed accordingly. What Makes the RESP Different On the surface, an RESP may seem quite similar to an RRSP (another topic for another article), but there are a few reasons that you'd typically use an RESP over an RRSP. Consider the government grant. In 1998, the Canadian government decided to lend an extra hand in planning for education, contributing 20% of what you invest to an RESP to a maximum of $500 a year. Now, don't start doing the math, because there's a cap of $2500 for the life of the RESP. And over the life of an RESP, you can't contribute more than $50,000 total. Contributions can be made once the child is born but not before. So, if you're expecting a child and want to get a head start, an RESP won't help. And to that effect, after your child is 21, you can't continue to make any more contributions. If your