Need more facts??

Although we are convinced of the need to make Financial Literacy a core part of a students education, we may need to convince colleagues of this need. So if you feel you need to arm yourself with more facts, well here goes --

Statistics from the Federal Consumer Agency of Canada Youth Financial Literacy Survey in 2008--focusing on youth aged 18 to 29--confirm that students would benefit from studying financial literacy:

• 60% carry some debt--mostly credit card debt and student loans.
• More than 1/3 (36%) of these youth carry debts that amount to $10 000 or more, and more than 1 in 5 (21%) have a debt load of $20 000 or more.
• Nearly 40% report not having enough funds to cover monthly expenses at least once during the past year; they turn to borrowing from family/friends or to using credit cards to fill the void.

Need more, check out their web page.

Final Note: I often just quote own personal stories. My oldest daughter is entering in her third year of University and we were going over her OSAP (Ontario Student Assistant Program) application for next year. She was a little disappointed over her amount for next year until we sat down and I had her try and account for all the money for past two years. "With your scholarships you should have had enough money for year one and your OSAP should have covered years two and three. So dear, where did the money go?"  She tried to account, we jotted down how much spend on lattes, lunches and clothes. She didn't realize that had spent over $2,000 on her wants and desires rather than needs. I then had her calculate how much those things were actually going to cost here with interest. "Hardly seemed worth it", I said. She reluctantly agreed. Further I explained, that you have to pay all the money back. So we calculated a budget and a plan -- we shall see if she sticks to it -- tune in for updates.  :)