April is Financial Literacy Month

April is Financial Literacy month in the US. Here in Canada, many bloggers and personal finance writers recognize April as a great time to write about financial literacy despite the fact that it is not officially financial literacy month in Canada. My personal hope is that change comes as a result of the creating of the Canadian Task Force on Financial Literacy. Having been a financial educator in the financial industry for 20 years, I look forward to more education, awareness and formality around financial literacy.

Anyhow, rather than re-write information in this post, I thought I would share some of my favorite links and articles on the topic of financial literacy.

www.Financialliteracymonth.com – This site is US based but it has some great universal tips and information on financial wellness. It has a 30 step process to financial wellness which is filled with excellent information.

www.FinancialLiteracyInCanada.com – This is the site set up by the financial task force on literacy. The best part of this site at the moment is the consultation document they created to talk about the issues that face Canadians on financial literacy.

www.practicalmoneyskills.ca – This site is sponsored by VISA and is mostly Canadian. There is lots of good basic information here. It’s a great starting place for someone looking for information on Financial Literacy.

The Budget and Raising Financial Literacy – National Post by Jonathan Chevreau
This article talks about how we may not need the government to create awareness for financial literacy because it is already happening at a grassroots level. I would agree from the perspective that there is no shortage of information on the topic today. The challenge is filtering through all the crap and finding good relevant information which can be frustrating and time consuming.

10 tips to improve Canada’s financial literacy – Globe and Mail by Gary Rabbior, the president of the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education – Really good thoughts in this article

ABCs Of Financial Literacy – Financial Post
A great article that starts with the story of a teacher that is doing her part in bringing in financial education into the workplace.

How to raise money-smart children – Financial Post
This article gives three good money lessons for your kids.

Financial Education in Schools -Four Pillars Blog
This post offers a bit of a different perspective on putting financial education into the school system. Unique perspectives always attract interesting comments. Check out the comments as well.

Financial Literacy in Canada
I did a series of posts on www.CanadianFinanceBlog.com. There are four parts to this series. I know that’s a lot of reading but this stuff is really important to me. You can find the links and summaries through my site

Panel on financial literacy wants to hear from us – Vancouver Sun
This is actually a great primer on the consultation paper from the Task Force on Financial Literacy in Canada. It highlights all the questions they are seeking answers for.

Should Canada invest in financial literacy? - By Ellen Roseman
Nice international perspective on financial literacy and why we need more of it in Canada.

Why now? Making financial literacy a priority – Globe and Mail
This article highlights the importance of Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy Month: 5 Steps to Setting Financial Goals – Ray at Financial Highway
Ray’s got a series of articles but I thought I would highlight one of them that I enjoyed.

Financial Literacy Is Like Green Eggs and Ham – By 2 cents at BalanceJunkie.com
It appears I am not the only one that draws parallels between the health industry and the financial industry. Great read!

The Fear of Money – By Kathryn at MillionDollaryJourney.com
Part of financial literacy is overcoming your fear of money. Another great read from a great writer.

Jim Yih is a financial expert and professional speaker. He puts Financial Education programs into the workplace as a complement to other employee benefit programs. Jim is committed to helping people make better decisions with money through his articles, workshops and educational products. To learn more about Jim visit his website www.RetireHappy.ca