7 in 10 Canadians consider themselves financially literate: poll

Seven out of 10 Canadians consider themselves to be financially literate, while close to 30 per cent don’t consider themselves to be in that category, according to a new poll.

The survey from Maru Public Opinion found that one in five people, or 21 per cent, said they are very financially literate while another 50 per cent said they are somewhat financially literate.

However, when asked to self-assess how financially literate they are based on their understanding of how various financial instruments work, only 45 per cent consider themselves literate with any of them.

Only 15 per cent consider themselves financially literate when it comes to life insurance, investments, and stocks.

According to the poll, while 60 per cent admit to having a personal or monthly budget, only 29 per cent have taken an education course about finance or personal budget management.

The poll comes at the beginning of Financial Literacy Month as interest rates keep rising and inflation, while cooling, continues to stay at around seven per cent each month.

The survey also found that those with a higher income of $100,000/year or more were more likely to have taken an education course on finances than those who make less than $100,000

The poll was conducted on Oct. 26-27 using 1,524 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada online panellists and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.