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“Financial literacy” means being able to really understand money and financial issues, how to “read and write” in the language of dollars and cents. It means having money knowledge and money skills, and being able to apply them. It means being able to make smart decisions about money and plan for the future.

How Can You Contribute to Financial Literacy as an Educator?

Teaching is about preparing your students to be future citizens. As an educator, you can make a real difference in the lives of young people. In the same way that you teach them how to write and count, you can teach them to understand contracts and calculate interest, plan a budget and save for future projects. You can help teach these important life skills to young Canadians.

Why Financial Literacy Matters

We all need money. Credit cards, bank accounts and debt are becoming as normal in our lives as eating and sleeping. Yet many people — particularly young Canadians — lack good money skills. Students often graduate from high school, college or university with little knowledge of the financial realities they’ll face in the “real” world.

The fact is, the ability to make informed financial decisions is essential to our well-being. These decisions range from daily spending and budgeting to choices involving insurance or saving for retirement, home ownership and post-secondary education.

How Can FCAC’s Money Belt Help You?

The Money Belt offers interactive tools, quizzes, polls and more attention-grabbing resources to interest your students in financial matters. Explore The City, Financial Life Skills. The City is a complete educational program adapted to fit with curricula in all provinces and territories. You can use it as is or select one or two modules from the in-class, or as a self-guided on-line tool. To find out more about The City, click here or download the brochure (PDF format).

For more information, you can also visit FCAC’s Web site which offers a wide variety of publications that clearly explain the basics of banking and other financial topics.