One-in-five Canadian seniors admit they have never spoken to their adult children about their own financial plans, spurring the need for more financial literacy resources and tools

Toronto, Ontario – February 23, 2022 – The Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE) and Scotiabank today launched Let’s Talk Money: Seniors, a new resource for seniors and their adult children to help close the communication gap when it comes to financial planning. Let’s Talk Money: Seniors comes off the heels of a recent CFEE survey which found that 72% of seniors with adult children agree it’s important to talk about their financial situation with their children, but one-in-five (19%) admit to never having those conversations.

Available now, Let’s Talk Money: Seniors equips seniors and their adult children with the tools and guidance they need to have meaningful and informative conversations when planning for their financial futures, addressing a wide range of challenging yet important topics that often come up when considering inter-generational financial matters, including retirement, living situation, managing assets, life insurance, wills and inheritance, power of attorney, and more.

“Supporting seniors’ financial health, well-being, and security is vitally important, especially now in uncertain times,” said Minister of Seniors, Hon. Kamal Khera. “Focusing on seniors and future seniors has been a top priority for the Government of Canada. We know that educating and supporting seniors and their families with financial planning will ensure better outcomes, now and in the future.”

“CFEE has been working closely with seniors for many years, helping them with managing their money and financial affairs,” said Gary Rabbior, President of CFEE. “The topic of how to have meaningful money talks with adult children comes up frequently and we know many seniors struggle with how to have those conversations. We are very grateful to Scotiabank for their support of the Let’s Talk Money: Seniors program, which we know will be welcomed by seniors and their adult children.”

Let’s Talk Money: Seniors is available for free online and provides tools and resources in both English and French, including a series of webinars and podcasts from seniors who discuss their experiences navigating financial conversations with their children. The live and recorded sessions provide an opportunity for families to listen together, and endeavour to empower them to have their own conversations about finances. Let’s Talk Money: Seniors also includes links to a range of resources and support tools available through Scotiabank’s Seniors Resource Centre.

“At Scotiabank, we have a long history of serving, supporting, and advocating for the diverse needs of our senior population from coast-to-coast-to-coast,” said Ahmad Dajani, Vice President and Seniors Champion at Scotiabank. “In times of economic uncertainty, intergenerational financial planning is growing in importance, and we’re proud to work with CFEE to launch this new program that endeavours to strengthen the financial well-being and peace of mind of seniors and their families.”

To celebrate the launch of the new program, CFEE hosted a virtual event today, which included an overview of the program and website as well as presentations and discussions with a panel of guests including Canada’s Minister of Seniors, the Honourable Kamal Khera; Chair of the Board, RTOERO, Rich Prophet; Executive Director, Community Alliance for Support and Empowerment (CASE), Peace Okpara; seniors; CFEE; and Scotiabank.

To access the wealth of tools and resources offered by Let’s Talk Money: Seniors and to view a recording of the launch event, please visit http://letstalkmoneyseniors.com/.

Released by Maru Public Opinion, these are the findings of a survey undertaken between January 12-14, 2022, by Maru Blue of 1295 randomly selected Canadian adults aged 60+ with adult children who are Maru Voice Canada online panelists. The results have been weighted by education, age, gender, and region (and in Quebec, language) to match the population according to Census data which ensures the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Canada.

About CFEE

CFEE is a federally chartered, non-profit, non-partisan organization, founded in 1974, that works to improve economic and financial literacy and enterprising capability. CFEE works collaboratively with ministries and departments of education along with school boards, schools, educators, and teacher associations. CFEE also engages in activities to support and assist newcomers and past immigrants to Canada, and the general public including print resources, videos, workshops, and online resources. Overall, CFEE aspires to help Canadians of all ages be better prepared to undertake their economic roles, responsibilities, and decisions with confidence and competence.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: “for every future” we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of over 90,000 employees and assets of approximately $1.2 trillion (as at October 31, 2021), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

For more information:

Joseph F. Clark
Communications Director
Canadian Foundation for Economic Education
jclark@cfee.org
Tel: 905-726-3438
Cell: 416-893-8772