June 30th, 2015 → 9:18 pm @ MacDev Financial Group| Stephen Devlin // No Comments
Canada recently announced a set of new financial literacy initiatives to encourage, educate, and empower Canadians to take better control of their finances.
The program called Count Me In Canada enlists the buy in of more than 50 Canadian non-profits, organizations, and groups who focus on improving financial literacy of Canadians.
And it’s needed.
Recent statistics show that Canadians are struggling under the weight of personal credit card debt. Along with the drop in oil prices, and the increasing cost of housing, Canadians seem poised for a financial collapse.
According to an article on The Globe and Mail, the new financial literacy initiative has three main objectives:
“The first is to empower Canadians to manage money and debt wisely. The second is to help them plan and save for their future. And last, the strategy should reduce financial fraud and abuse.”
Officials are clearly noting that while the Count Me In program is critical to ensuring Canadians’ financial health, they also admit that it won’t happen overnight. Policies take time, but changing attitudes and behaviors take even longer, and in a culture that has grown to accept and accumulate staggering debt, only time will tell if the program will achieve its goals.
Last year, the government rolled out a Senior Initiative of this kind, focusing on retiring and retired individuals, helping them access public benefits that would secure them a more financially stable future. This new program stands to do the same, but with a goal of changing the ways of individuals now, and training the ways of the future.
As the Chinese proverb states: “Give a man to fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Canada’s latest efforts to teach a man to fish will hopefully get individuals out of the deep end.
Tags: CPA, Financial Advice, retirement advice, retirement information, Tax Advice, Tax Information, Tax Tips
