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Investor Index

Teach Children to Save

by Natalie MacLellan on April 27, 2010

in educational resources

The Money Savvy Pig

Today is “Teach Children to Save Day” in the United States. For 14 years the “Teach Children to Save” program, sponsored by the American Bankers Association’s Education Fund, has partnered banks with students for lessons on the importance of saving. The goal is to reach 5 million students before the 15th anniversary of the program, next year.

Canada may not have an equivalent “Day” designated, but we do have very impressive programs to help you teach your children or students the importance of money management, including my favourite: Make it Count.

Make it Count is an interactive money mentoring program and information resource from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). The Make it Count program includes a parent’s guide, an instructor’s guide and an online daily budgeting program that uses everyday situations like errands to engage youth in discussions about  money management. Make it Count makes talking with youth about budgeting, debit card use and common sense spending simpler and more effective for parents and teachers.

The  program centers around a series of activities, tips and lesson plans that are simple to follow and more importantly, simple to teach. One of the most exciting new elements of the program is an online, interactive money management tool that allows mentors and youth to set up a daily budget, start and track savings goals and chat with other money mentors in an online forum. Users can see where their money is going, track their financial progress and provide their own insights and activity ideas to the online community.

According to a recent national survey, there is a need for financial skills educational resources that are family-friendly. The CSA Investor Index 2009 survey found that 78 percent of Canadians believe that teaching financial skills is among the most important things a parent can do for their child. And less than half of parents with children 18 or younger have actually taught their children about personal finances and investing.

The Make it Count resources, including the interactive online budgeting program can be accessed at MakeitCountOnline.ca.  All resources are free and available in both English and French.

Do you like the piggy bank pictured above? Find out more about the Money Savvy Pig from Money Savvy Generation.

Tagged as: children, education, Investor Index, savings, Statistics, youth

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National investor study released – How does Nova Scotia compare?

by Natalie MacLellan on October 5, 2009

in In the News

The 2009 CSA Investor Index finds that while Canadians express optimism about their personal finances and confidence in their abilities as investors, most are not seeking information or advice about investing.

Canadians are much more likely to agree (48%) than to disagree (27%) that 2010 will be a good year for them financially. In addition, most Canadians (56%) say they are confident in their ability to make investment decisions (as compared to 38% who say they are not confident). Among the 65% of Canadians who currently hold savings or investments, most say they will make no changes (52%) or will invest more in the coming year (31%), while fewer than one in ten (8%) say they will reduce their investments.

While they are optimistic and confident as investors, the findings show that many Canadians are not seeking out information or and advice on investing. For example, three in four Canadians (75%) agree that they know where to go when they need more information about investing in general, but most (66%) have not sought information about investing in the past 12 months. Similarly, two in three (64%) consider having a financial plan to be important, although only one in four Canadians (25%) say they have a formal, written financial plan. Fewer than half of Canadians (46%) say they have a financial advisor.

Local highlights include the fact that 45 % of Nova Scotians have a financial advisor. We are more likely than other Candians to stick with an advisor long term, with 14 % claiming to have worked with their current advisor for 10 years or more.

Not likely to surprise anyone, Nova Scotians are more likely than other Canadians (48 %) to agree that, “in general, people can be trusted.” Luckily, this does not appear to have disadvantaged us, as only 3% of Nova Scotians invested in what turned out to be a fraudulent investment, slightly below the Candian average of 4%.

Tagged as: Investor Index, Statistics, survey

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