Task Force on Financial Literacy
The “Task Force on Financial Literacy” was appointed in June 2009 to provide advice and recommendations to the Minister of Finance on a national strategy to strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians. The task force was comprised of 13 members from a cross section of economic sectors who came up with this report at the end of 2010. It is now available to the public.
This was a huge undertaking culminating in a report now available to the public with an online posting. It is well worth taking the time to read. It is entitled:
“Canadians and Their Money: Building a Brighter Financial Future”
Following are a few outtakes from the report which highlight both the current challenges Canadians are facing along with recommendations the task force provided to the Minister of Finance in order to come up with new national strategies to assist Canadian citizens.
III 3 Take-up of Government Benefits.
This is startling because so many seniors are missing out on massive financial support. For example:
- Roughly 160,000 eligible seniors do not receive the Old Age Security benefit (representing almost $1 billion in pre-tax benefits).
- About 150,000 eligible seniors do not receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement.
- Approximately 55,000 eligible Canadians are not receiving Canada Pension Plan benefits.
And your kids and grandkids are not utilizing saving programs that are available to them.
- The take-up rate for the Canada Education Savings Grant is just 40 percent.
- The median Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) contribution represents only six percent of the total eligible room available.
“With people taking on greater responsibility for funding their retirement today, the value of saving and building a “nest egg” for the future cannot be underestimated.”
Appendix A: Summary of Recommendations
Here are two of the recommendations pulled out of the 30 recommendations the task force provided to the Minister of Finance.
“The Task Force recommends that all provincial and territorial governments integrate financial literacy in the formal education system, including elementary, high school, post-secondary education and formalized adult learning activities.”
“The Task Force recommends that the Government of Canada, in partnership with stakeholders, establish a comprehensive and ongoing public awareness campaign to promote awareness of the need for financial literacy.”
What can we take away from this? First of all, keep in mind that Canada is a ‘self-assessing’ society, As individuals, we are responsible for our own financial literacy – a point borne out by the language within the recommendations. As families, we are responsible for having financial discussions and sharing our knowledge with each other. Even if you feel you don't know enough to engage in a money conversation with your peers, you can't help but know a good deal more than your grandkids. Don't le them out into the world without the benefit of some of your experience!
If the government itself is saying kids don't know enough about money, you know they are going to make some very basic mistakes.
And who ARE they listening too? There are credit card companies at colleges and universities that are handing out tee-shirts in exchange for getting them to sign up for a credit card. Almost every student who signs up for a credit card will be overs over their head in debt inside of a year. It's just too easy to buy now and 'pay later' (make that try to pay).
A little depression era savvy might be exactly what they need!
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