Project Overview

Financial Literacy Workshops for Seniors – It’s Never Too Late for Improving Financial Knowledge and Skills

It’s great that so much more is being done now to try and educate our youth about economic and financial matters to better prepare them for the decisions they will have to make in life. Unfortunately most Canadians did not benefit from any kind of economic or financial education – or at least not much.  And that is particularly true of our seniors.

In the old days, which are not so long ago, financial life was much simpler.  Usually one had a savings account and a chequing account – and maybe a credit card. Bills came in the mail and cheques were written and mailed back. There were no such things as mutual funds, daily chequing accounts, RESPs, TFSAs, RRSPs, RRIFs, Exchange Traded Funds, variable mortgages, and so many other kinds of financial products and services.

As a result, many seniors are challenged with managing, and planning for, their financial affairs. Many seniors have many questions – often about such things as power of attorney, wills, estate taxes, and so on.  To help, CFEE organizes and implements financial literacy workshops for seniors. We organize most of these workshops in collaboration with town and smaller city mayors. Mayors are usually concerned about the well-being of seniors in their community and are anxious to help. And seniors usually trust their mayors – and that is important.

The workshops cover topics that we have learned are of interest to seniors.  There is also effort made to address questions participants have that may not be part of a topic addressed at the workshop.  Workshops also aim to have a local person from the financial industry who can serve as a resource person for questions participants have. The workshops are conducted by outstanding facilitators with extensive experience.

CFEE and IG Wealth Management have planned a series of FREE virtual workshops for seniors during 2021. These free workshops are designed to help seniors develop a better understanding of financial issues relevant and important to them, and will include topics such as:

• learning how to set and reach financial goals while dealing with new “Life Events” as a senior
• adapting, planning for and managing retirement from a financial perspective
• how to recognize various expenses and plan a practical budget
• learning how to continue saving in retirement
• planning and starting a second career
• coping with the loss of a partner or spouse
• the importance of planning for “Powers of Attorney (POA)” documents, Wills and other documents
• making funeral, burial and other related estate arrangements

These workshops will also address the financial challenges of living in a COVID-19 pandemic.

• These workshops are available to seniors across Canada, and will be scheduled to accommodate the various time zones across the country. The dates and times of each of the national workshops will be posted on our Events Page at Events | Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (cfee.org)

If you would be interested in working with us to host a virtual workshop for seniors in your community, please contact us.

Highlights

• Workshops focus content aligned to the interests and questions common among seniors;
• Workshops are organized in collaboration with local mayors and seniors’ organizations;
• Workshop atmosphere is casual, friendly, and responsive to the interests and questions of participants;
• Materials are provided as reference to participants and the “Managing Your Money in Canada” website complements the workshop and is a source of ongoing help for seniors.

Goals

• Increase the confidence and competence of seniors to manage their finances and make informed financial decisions;
• Respond to the questions and interests of seniors that participate in the workshops;
• Work with local seniors’ association staff to empower them to be able to offer ongoing assistance to seniors with their financial matters and possibly conduct their own workshops;
• Link seniors with professionals in their community who can assist them with financial questions;
• Mobilize local officials and organizations to do more to address the financial education needs of seniors in their communities.

Outcomes

• More seniors are confident and competent in managing their financial affairs;
• More seniors are less vulnerable to being taken advantage of through frauds and scams;
• Community officials and seniors organizations assign higher priority to the financial literacy of seniors;
• The stress level of many seniors is reduced through greater understanding of how to better manage and control their financial affairs.