2023-08-10 04:00:00
40%. This is the percentage of young people aged 18-24 who failed miserably a basic financial questionnaire, reveals a study published today. Taxes, duties, TFSA… these key concepts are Chinese for them.
“It’s quite dramatic,” sighs Jean-Philippe Laforge, co-founder of the exchange platform between customers and finance professionals Welcome Spaces, who interviewed 1,000 people aged 18 to 44 online to feel the pulse of the situation. of the younger generation.
“It worries me as an entrepreneur, and a father, that we train financial illiterates because the most important moments in life are accompanied by financial decisions,” he observes.
Buying property, investments, retirement planning… you have to have this basic knowledge, argues Jean-Philippe Laforge, also founder of Beehivr mobile sales assistance solutions.
At the beginning of the month, The newspaper met young people who have fears about their financial future.
Last Wednesday, The newspaper told the story of a nurse who manages to set aside more than 60% of her salary with iron discipline and by surrounding herself with experts.
However, the study published this Thursday shows that many of them often simply do not master basic concepts.
Learn on the job
For Nathan Marcoux-Racicot, 22, a car wash technician who entered the job market after secondary three, he had to learn on the job. According to him, the lack of financial literacy is a “serious problem”. “The big subject is money,” he says.
“I don’t earn a big salary, but instead of going to a restaurant every Friday with a bill of $150, I eat at home and it costs $30. I live with what I can afford”, illustrates the disciplined young man from Saint-Eustache.
“What drives the world is money, it’s a shame that it’s not developed at school,” adds the one who also manages to invest by motivating himself.
More than 80% of young people surveyed by Welcome Spaces say they are dissatisfied with the financial education received at school.
280 kilometers away, in Quebec, Laurent Côté-Dufresne, 22, a finance student at Laval University, agrees.
Laurent Côté-Dufresne Provided by Laurent Côté-Dufresne
“The impact of having the course before the age of 18 is significant. You have to take responsibility and know the most advantageous options,” he summarizes.
“Knowing the best plans to invest at X time in your life cycle is really essential,” he says.
Anxiety and denial
What also concerns Jean-Philippe Laforge, who led the investigation, is to see how an insidious denial has crept into the heads of many Quebecers. The brushed portrait shows that some tend to stick their heads in the sand.
“The least anxious are those who know the least. However, the less they know, the worse it will go, ”he analyzes.
In total, 51% of men and 59% of women even admitted to feeling financial anxiety.
The less they know about tax benefits and financial strategies, the poorer they become and pay the price for these shortcomings.
Financial Literacy Indexes
5 sample quiz questions with wrong answer rates
What is the minimum % down payment for a home? 41%
What is the Consumer Price Index (CPI)? 47%
What is the Quebec Pension Plan? 34%
What is compound interest? 32%
What is a car insurance deductible? 26%
Average obtained in the financial questionnaire: 62%
Other study results
Dissatisfied with the financial education received at school
Feel financial anxiety
Do not understand basic commodity tax rules
Unable to pay credit card
45% of women
31% of men
Source: Welcome Spaces study
Methodology: 1000 people online, ages 18 to 44, plus or minus 3% margin of error
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