Play Point 80: 10 years on, did the campaign help you?

19th October Sydney: MeAfterWork talk
October 19, 2016
30 November: Kyogle Library NSW Adults Only talk
January 16, 2017

In 2006 the Australian Federal Government ran the Understanding Money campaign and issued booklets for individuals and organisations (ISBN 0 642 74389 4 for the Organisation booklet). Do you remember? I certainly do (and I have copies of the booklets ;-), because it was two years after I started helping people professionally with their financial education. The government knew back then that it will have a tough time in future providing (financial) assistance to a growing population. It knew and still knows the benefit of a financially educated populace. People that know ‘how to fish’ can look after themselves.

Yes some innovative organisations are rolling this training out brilliantly. Australia Post, Flight Centre and Department of Defence to name a few. Given that individual financial bondage affects organisations,  they are well-placed to incorporate this soft skill into their training program. Managing money is a transferable skill for managing resources in the workplace. If you’d like a Checklist for for yourself and your organisation just Contact me.

What annoys me though is that it doesn’t seem to have had an effect on a larger scale. Just like Workplace Health and Safety (WHS), where the cost of training provides a long term return on investment, I expect that financial education will become mainstream, but when? We really must accelerate programs now so that our levels of debt, personally and nationally, decrease.

It behoves us as individuals, responsible for our own lives to make our own retirement comfortable. We could talk for days about factors affecting our ability to do this (e.g. stay at home parent, which is one of the most important jobs in the world). However there is no one more interested in your financial future than yourself. Well, perhaps me 😉 And that’s because I see the all too common problem of people losing jobs, retiring on very little income or some other situation that leaves people financially strained. Which then affects the rest of their lives, including their loved ones. Not an enjoyable existence! If you’d like to start the path to being part of the 6% who will be financially comfortable as soon as possible just ask me for the Checklist here. And of course I’d love to hear your comments about whether you’ve attended or would attend workplace financial literacy training, and why. Here’s to a great 2017!! xx

 

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