According to international surveys, the UK has a staggering 99% literacy rate. This is commendable, but I suspect the UK’s ‘financial literacy’ rate is only a fraction of this, making the country poorer as a result.
We have people who seem to be scammed on a daily basis, can’t calculate 15% of 100, and have trouble understanding even the most basic rules of investing and saving. .
When it comes to finance, we are the dunce in the corner.
With this in mind, the recent announcement that the CISI Future Foundation, an organization set up by CISI to improve financial literacy in the UK, has been certified as a charity and can begin awarding grants just one year after its launch. I applaud the news of
CISI has generously contributed £2.5 million from its own reserves, and many industry professionals have likewise generously volunteered to become founding directors. I hope that more industry companies will support this organization. In particular, it focuses on the first efforts to improve the financial literacy of disadvantaged youth.
Budgeting, rainy day savings, big items ahead of time for young people who seem to be increasingly inclined to take advantage of all sorts of nonsense such as short-term lenders, credit cards, and cryptocurrency and social media funders. Too often basic skills like planning are lacking (there are a lot of bad ones).
Many financial planners may be wondering why this is important. In my opinion, the simple fact is that smarter, more financially literate people are better for all of us. more likely to be a good customer.
It’s not right to focus only on the wealthy or wealthy and leave everyone else to sharks.
Of course, a key place for financial literacy education is in schools, and over the last few years we have seen hundreds of planners educate young people in schools. money.
We also know that many planners have good relationships with local schools and are happy to provide pro bono support to many individuals and schools.
All of this is good work, but there is still much work to be done. Personal finance skills should be an integral and integral part of the school mathematics curriculum. I don’t quite understand why the sum of random numbers can’t be converted to the sum of pounds and pence. Even small steps here pay off.
But hats off to CISI’s new campaign and decision to award grants to partner organizations to improve financial literacy. This is a small but important step in the right direction that will pay off one day.
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Kevin O’Donnell is the editor of Financial Planning Today and has worked as a journalist and editor for over 30 years.