There is a lack of financial literacy.
Lack of financial literacy can create a number of issues. Every individual must have a basic understanding of how to manage finances, make investments, and save money for major investments in the future. Proper financial education can even help fix errors made in the past.
Statistics reveal that 8 out of 10 young Canadians do not know how to manage their finances. Further, only 35% of students believe they can manage their finances after completing their education. But this harsh reality does not only affect Canada’s younger population, but over 60% of adults also revealed that they have poor or fair financial knowledge. 3 out of 10 Canadians struggle to pay their bills. Only 40% of people know how much money it will take to maintain the intended standard of life after their retirement. Barely half of the Canadian population has been able to effectively manage their finances to live a happy life after retirement. Even then, they have generally paid someone to assist them in making these plans. Compounding this lack of financial literacy is the government’s lack of effort. There are little to no finance classes taught in school. Access to free financial information, without spending countless hours sifting through Google, is next to non-existent.
My own story:
I have always been passionate about starting new things. I have created companies before and it required spending a lot of my own money. I had incurred debt to found and run my ventures. Just like any other new entrepreneur, it was quite tough for me to get rid of my debts.
In order to become financially smart and make better decisions, I used several financial apps from popular developers, but it was too difficult for me to know what I was doing. I was anxious that I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I soon realized that those apps are designed for people with great financial intelligence.
I had started learning on my own to change the fate of my finances in the future. I changed some habits in order to get back on track. It was tough, but I achieved my goals and now feel very comfortable in my spending and saving.
During this whole learning phase, I met people who faced the same struggles. Some individuals were new in Canada and they took some wrong decisions in a hope to secure a better future. I also met many people who were living in Canada for a long time and yet they had no financial expertise because it was not taught in school.
I realized that while financial expertise could better all the aspects of our lives, we do not take it seriously. We do not prioritize it because we don’t like things we don’t understand.
I strongly believe that we should talk more about financial literacy instead of celebrating it just during tax season. Our education system should focus more on teaching financial lessons at an early age so that we can develop it as we grow. Admittedly, I started at a kindergarten level when I was 18 and that just isn’t right. Young people should have a handle of this information much earlier. Since I can’t infiltrate provincial education, I provide budgeting advice, financial literacy, and so much more, in the most accessible form, an app. Through this free application, compatible for any phone, financial literacy and budgeting advice is available at your fingertips.
What Does The Future Look Like:
I started Chango because of my own financial struggles. Chango focuses on personal finance and financial literacy because that is where people seem to have the biggest problems. Therefore, we provide bias-free information. People shouldn’t have to suffer because they weren’t properly taught or because they are newcomers coming to a new country.
This is not just about the solution that I’ve created, but about the bigger picture. If we start coming together and shedding light on this, then I hope that we’ll start seeing a change.