Toronto, April 27, 2004 — This week, Stats Canada released a study revealing about one half of college and university bachelor graduates from the class of 2000 left school owing money for their education, mostly from government student loans. To help young Canadians prepare for these kinds of looming financial challenges, Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) has launched an online financial planning tool kit. The Tool Kit is part of FPSC's new online Learning Centre launched earlier this month.
The new resource for students and teachers was developed in collaboration with CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) professionals. "I talk to adults everyday who say they wish they had acquired better money management skills earlier in life," says David Salloum, CFP, a content contributor and Tool Kit presenter.
To help secondary school educators introduce students to the Tool Kit and to elaborate on the financial planning concepts presented in it, FPSC arranges for CFP volunteers to visit secondary schools across Canada.
"The concepts of financial planning are relevant to everyone, regardless of their financial situation or age," says Ingrid Rinaldi, CFP, CA, who was volunteer presenter at Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary school in North York earlier this year. "I used the Tool Kit to introduce basic financial planning concepts such as goal setting, budgeting and cash flow," adds Rinaldi, who works at Berkshire Securities Inc.
"The financial planning Tool Kit is a much needed resource. As an educator, I am aware of the financial challenges my students will face," says Sandra Motta, Loretto Abbey's guidance counselor. "A presentation from a CFP professional, like Ingrid, helps students and teachers to solidify the concepts introduced in the resource," Motta adds.
The free Tool Kit is available to the public online in FPSC's new Learning Centre located in the resource section of the FPSC website - www.cfp-ca.org.
Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC), established in 1995, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to benefiting Canadians and the financial planning profession by establishing and enforcing education, examination, experience and ethics requirements for individuals who choose to earn the CFP designation. There are currently more than 16,000 planners licensed to use the CFP marks in Canada and approximately 82,000 CFP professionals in 18 countries around the world. See www.cfp-ca.org for further information.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS, CONTACT:
Reed Hilton/FPSC at 416.593.8587 ext. 235 or e-mail rhilton@cfp-ca.org or Eileen Chadnick/Chadnick Communications for FPSC at 416.631.7437 or e-mail eileen@chadnick.com.
CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and are certification marks owned outside the U.S. by Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB). Financial Planners Standards Council is the marks licensing authority for the CFP marks in Canada, through agreement with FPSB.
are certification marks