Discussions

It seems that one common thing we all share is the needing and handling money. With financial literacy and training seeming to be lacking in our society where do people think it should be taught? Where can people now learn and get help today? Would there a market for a new business to offer individual coaching and group training sessions?  
Canadian on average hold on average $1.70 for ever y $1.00 of disposable income they have. Money and how to handle it seem to be one of the biggest issues facing all of us. That being said it is the least common subject’s people openly discuss.  

I personally think it should be taught at home. Start when kids are young. Give them an allowance - get involved with making them make categories for their money: save, spend, charity. Teach them the difference between necessary and luxury expenses.  
 
However I do believe that it's hard to teach what you already don't know. So if you are living paycheque to paycheque and don't know how to manage money that is exactly what you will pass on to your kids. I think there are many opportunities to educate yourself about money, and most don't cost a thing! There are plenty of books at the library on money management, lots of different sources online, or why not sit down with family or friends and ask for advice/help?  
 
I don't claim to be an expert in money management so instead I consult one. I have a financial advisor and meet with him once a year to go over my finances and my money goals. When I started meeting with them I could only contribute $50 per month (the minimum) and even that was a stretch on my paycheques. Now I'm in a much better place financially due to their advice and my hard work that I have significant savings (tfsa, rrsps, etc) plus have money left over at the end of the month. No it has definitely not been easy and there were lots of sacrifices I have had to make - do I want to go out to a movie this week or do I want to take a vacation next year? Do I want cable or do I want an emergency savings account? I think it's worth it to find a professional who will sit down and help you create a budget. Be realistic but be hard on yourself. I've taken a huge interest in money and budgeting as I find it enormously satisfying to get my statements every few months and realize that while I'm not 100% financially secure yet, I'm well on my way. In times when my job hasn't seemed secure I have a 6 month emergency fund that I can tap into if needed. That in itself is a huge relief. Sure it may have taken me 8 years to build it up but everybody starts somewhere!  
 
Money is a touchy subject with many and I think it's too bad. There's a lot we can learn from each other both good and bad. Or maybe we just think it's a touchy subject. Maybe we just need to ask for advice and help - we could be pleasantly surprised!

Should start at school and home. When you are living from cheque to cheque and you kids end up more financially off how would learning about insurance, RRSP, pensions, extended health care benefits, lease, loans, mortgages, down payments, legal fees, etc. At some point we have all or at least should have come across one of these situations. It would have really helped me to learn these life skills through the school system as many parents themselves don't have the knowledge. I had to read tons about this stuff and still I am learning.

Needs to start at home when children are young. Its ok to say "not right now, we don't have the money" or "we can save up for it if we want it bad enough". Instant gratification is not what we want to teach our children as it sets them up badly, in more ways than one, for their future.

I think it would be good to start teaching about financial literacy early on in school. Parents may not have the knowledge or habits, and school is a great place to learn with peers. Maybe incorporating teaching good financial habits when doing other things, like fundraising campaigns and pizza lunch days and stuff like that.

I have volunteered in middle schools with a government program in the past. I have gone into grade 5-6, grade 7-8 classes all over Brandon. However it was only 2 x 4 hour days. The kids seemed to enjoy it, they seemed to absorb it as well. The program was designed to make it fun.

I believe that there are some things that just can't be taught must be learned. I came from a family where two generations basically lived with the idea of being financially responsible, it was talked about on a business level, as well as personal level. Even with all this tutoring on money management, I had to go through a learning curve.  
We as a society seem to believe in the idea that things should be better for our children than they were for us. This might be a good idea but it sometimes leads to kids not being forced to understand the reality of money.  
 
If we really could teach about money we would have no businesses that fail and everyone could be rich, now it might be possible, but it would hurt our capitalist world.

I agree that this is something that should be taught in the home.  
 
So many things are left to the schools but they have only so much time.  
 
I attended a course offered through McDiarmid Drive Alliance because I did not listen I guess when my parents were speaking dollars and cents. Now I have the tools, knowledge and experience to pass on a financial responsible attitude to my children.  
 
Dave Ramsay has a website everything you need to learn basic monthly budgeting, savings for retirement or education ans well as the big help of getting out of debt and STAYING out of debt is there.  
 
The class I attended was 10-13 weeks long. Each chapter, each class a different focus. It allowed you to spend a week adopting the new lesson, new habit, new concept. I am more confident with my finances now.  
 
I believe that there are a lot of available credit helps out there already.Some are better than others. Yet every situation is different so what works for one may not work for another. Even a bank financial adviser can help you.  
 

don brown said "I believe that there are some things that just can't be taught must be learned. I came from a family where two generations basically lived with the idea of being financially responsible, it was talked about on a business level, as well as personal level. Even with all this tutoring on money management, I had to go through a learning curve.   We as a society seem to believe in the idea that things should be better for our children than they were for us. This might be a good idea but it sometimes leads to kids not being forced to understand the reality of money.     If we really could teach about money we would have no businesses that fail and everyone could be rich, now it might be possible, but it would hurt our capitalist world. "

Would suggest that like most things taught they can only be learned if the receiver of the information want to learn.  
 
Would suggest that in a lot of homes the parents are still trying to figure it out themselves and are concerned that revealing to much may expose them to questions from there kids that they are not prepared to answer or want to answer.  
 
Handling money ( if you follow Dave Ramsey)is 80% habit and 20% head knowledge. It is fascinating to me that we teach people calculus , geometry ( math and second languages like French and we do not focus on a language that we all will deal with daily that is Financial literacy.  
 
In the end you can't learn unless our society makes it a priority that it should be taught like reading and writing. A person may not be able to read , write or even see but in the end dealing with money will be there directly or indirectly for the rest of there lives.  
 
Will look into details on the course mentioned by the church as it sound as a good option for those wanting to learn.

Had to laugh as the thread reminded me of a post on facebook. 11 years of education and I don't know how a mortgage or taxes work....but at least I know about the cells inside a leaf.

Oh Canada said "    don brown said "I believe that there are some things that just can't be taught must be learned. I came from a family where two generations basically lived with the idea of being financially responsible, it was talked about on a business level, as well as personal level. Even with all this tutoring on money management, I had to go through a learning curve.   We as a society seem to believe in the idea that things should be better for our children than they were for us. This might be a good idea but it sometimes leads to kids not being forced to understand the reality of money.     If we really could teach about money we would have no businesses that fail and everyone could be rich, now it might be possible, but it would hurt our capitalist world. " Would suggest that like most things taught they can only be learned if the receiver of the information want to learn.     Would suggest that in a lot of homes the parents are still trying to figure it out themselves and are concerned that revealing to much may expose them to questions from there kids that they are not prepared to answer or want to answer.     Handling money ( if you follow Dave Ramsey)is 80% habit and 20% head knowledge. It is fascinating to me that we teach people calculus , geometry ( math and second languages like French and we do not focus on a language that we all will deal with daily that is Financial literacy.     In the end you can't learn unless our society makes it a priority that it should be taught like reading and writing. A person may not be able to read , write or even see but in the end dealing with money will be there directly or indirectly for the rest of there lives.     Will look into details on the course mentioned by the church as it sound as a good option for those wanting to learn. "

Contacted the church and unfortunately they are unable to offer the course any more. the reason given was because the Dave Ramsey Course called Financial Peace university had "university" in the title the Canadian government will not allow it to be taught in Canada. You can order the home study version but the classes can't be offered in Canada.  
 
On a similar note I discussed this same issue a year ago with Dave Ramseys people and they confirmed that they tried to offer a similar course but the Canadian government kept throwing up road blocks. As the US is a huge market with a huge need they decided to pass on Canada.  
 
Here we have millions being put into financial literacy and boards and I person that has a proven products and radio show and they do not want to work with such a group. Makes you question what our government really wants us to learn as our economy with the drop in commodities is about 70% based on consumerism ( buying a lot of products that are not needs!)  
 
Think there is a market for such training if people are willing to accept they need help and are willing to change there spending habits.

not to be materialistic, but I've always taught my kids (and other young people) that you should try to make a major purchase if you can once a year. whether its a car, house, furniture, appliances, etc. that's how you accumulate. I've seen lots of people who have spent lots of money throughout the years and never seemed to accumulate anything of value.young people probably wonder how older people have gotten all of their possessions in life, one thing at a time, one year at a time.  
money permitting!