As a mother raising twin boys, my life is often filled with excitement over construction sites, emergency vehicles and loud noises.  My boys love to pretend they are firemen, police officers, teachers, backhoe drivers and crane operators.  They have vivid imaginations and love to recreate complex play scenarios where they are ‘working.’

When I ask my boys what they want to eventually do for a living it changes often, but the one constant is fire fighter. While I love the idea of them giving back to our community, I’m a bit scared of the danger involved in that line of work!

(photo credit: Mike Gabelmann via photopin cc)

Out of curiosity, I looked up what qualifications are needed to become a firefighter and was surprised that at first read all you would need would be a Grade 12 Diploma. Upon closer inspection, I found college programs and the hiring prospects for Ontario’s largest fire fighting force.  What I realized is that this was not only a difficult job to get into but one that would require specific training and would really benefit from an undergraduate degree at university.

Start Planning Early with Heritage Education Funds for Your Child’s RESPs

So what does that mean for me and for my boys?  It means post-secondary tuition, training in another city and at the end of the day, a lot of money.  Heritage Education Funds estimates that for my boys (born in 2010), the cost of a 4-year program away from home will be $104,999 x 2 boys = $209,998.  Pretty much the cost of a house!!

So as you can see, it’s definitely important to start saving early. Want to know how you can get started? Heritage Education Funds sets out the lessons you need, so you can better understand your RESP and get started with a Heritage Rep to save for your child(ren).