Do you know what “financial literacy” means?
The Ontario Ministry of Education defines “financial literacy” as having the knowledge and skills to make responsible economic and financial decisions with confidence.
Unfortunately for many of us, skills that would make us more financially literate — household budgeting, understanding and using credit, managing debt, the importance of savings, etc. — are not skills we were regularly taught in school.
This has left many of us in the vulnerable position of having to react often to the negative consequences of our financial decisions, as opposed to being confident and proactive in our approach to the household finances.
During Financial Literacy Month, I’ll bring you a series of articles on Credit Coach that highlight various financial literacy skills and topics.
In the meantime, I challenge you to do some research.
Visit the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) website and the Thunder Bay Family Services website. These two websites offer great resources that will help you become more financially literate.
In my Credit Coach blogs, I’ve often talked about the importance of financial literacy — the need for all age groups to learn how to better manage their money and their debt. I encourage you to go back through the Credit Coach archives and review Taking Control of Your Finances with a Budget (January 19th, 2017 blog) and How to Raise Financially Literate Children.
I am putting out a call to action to all followers of Credit Coach. I’d like to address your financial literacy questions. Please leave me a comment below.
What financial challenge are you currently facing?
What personal finance skills would you like to have been taught in school?
Is there a life lesson that you wish someone would write about so that you could pass that knowledge onto your children?
I look forward to reading your questions and following up on the information you feel is important during the weeks to come of Financial Literacy Month.
Jayson Stoppel is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee and Chartered Accountant with BDO First Call Debt Solutions. With over 15 years in practice, Jayson assists individuals, families and companies with financial difficulties in Thunder Bay and throughout Northwest Ontario. To reach Jayson by email: JStoppel@BDO.ca
