Financial Literacy Month

November is Financial Literacy Month, and the theme for 2021 has been “make change that counts.” Over the month, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada maintains a database of events put on by organizations across the country designed to strengthen the financial literacy of individuals and families.

The underlying premise of financial literacy, of course, is that if people just knew better, they’d manage their money and debt wisely to save for the future. They’d have emergency funds and own homes and own insurance and build wealth and start businesses and pass them on to the next generation and give to charity. In the face of adversity their knowledge will give them confidence to make good decisions and the resilience they need to survive and thrive.

It seems like a nice, well-meaning idea, but the concept of knowing your way to financial success is actually nice, well-meaning baloney.

Just knowing more about finance doesn’t help you make good decisions about your own life (or else we could hand everyone a textbook and call it a day)...but knowing more about you does.

Unless you’re a Model Canadian Citizen Robot Mark 1™ fresh off the factory floor, the financial decisions you have to make for yourself, your business, and your family are not the same as the ones your neighbour has to make. The outcomes you’re looking to achieve might be wildly (or just mildly) different from anyone else’s. Applying general financial principles and knowledge of how taxes work is not the way to create a life well spent, unless your life is the same as everyone else’s life.

Nope. You don’t need financial literacy - at least, not on its own.

Rather, you need financial support: the kind of compassionate safety net that creates equitable outcomes for everyone, not just those who are lucky enough to begin running the race a couple of strides ahead of everyone else at the starting line.

You need financial guidance: the applied knowledge of people whose whole job is knowing so they can support you in what you’re doing.

You need financial empowerment: the wisdom that comes from deeply understanding who you are, what you value, and what success looks like for you.

I am all for making change, personally and professionally. I built my planning practice around a unique (at the time) set of values, top of which is identifying what “change that counts” means for each individual and family I work with before developing a plan to make it happen.

This need for financial empowerment over financial literacy is the reason I’ve been encouraging you all year to reflect on your own values and consider how you can live them out everywhere - yes, even in (and especially in) your estate plan.