Financial literacy comes at a cost

A new financial literacy training program was launched in Melbourne today with the unveiling of Money for Life — Money 101.

Chief executive officer Catherine Birchall said the aim of the program was to deliver financial literacy to the millions of Australians who struggle with understanding general financial concepts and issues.

However she admits this is a challenge as “the biggest challenge is to create trust in the financial services industry”.

“Regulation has worked in the industry, but the informed consumer is the best trust factor.”

The initiative is an on-line education program for employees who will be given the option of getting face to face training, and consists of 10 modules covering areas such as superannuation, financial planning, investments and taxation strategies.

The cost of each module is $550 and it is expected employers will pay this to educate their employees.

Birchall argued the biggest cause of employee stress in the workplace is financial worries and this program can help elevate this problem.

Paul Clitheroe, chairman of the Financial Literacy Taskforce said programs such as Money for Life were the type of initiatives the taskforce welcomes.

“We need to talk about financial literacy and talk about the simple stuff,” he said.

“These programs can create awareness for Australians to get a better life through being better with their money.”

Clitheroe said the taskforce, which is soon to change into the Financial Literacy Foundation, is interested in extending financial literacy to children.

“The foundation is there to support people running programs and to start the culture change of people being good with money,” he said.

Asked if there was going to be any financial incentives to encourage people to join programs, Assistant Treasurer Mal Brough, who was also at the launch, said the government had no plans to offer any, but did not rule them out.