A significant portion of Ontarians don’t have a road map for their financial future, according to a new study from investorED.ca.

The study shows that nearly one half (46%) of Ontario adults have never had a financial plan to save for retirement. In addition, 58% of parents don’t have a plan to save for their children’s education while close to nine out of 10 adults (88%) have never had a financial plan to save for a home.

The Investor Education Fund offers unbiased investment education to the general public via www.investorED.ca

“The survey results are alarming,” says Tom Hamza, president of the not-for-profit Investor Education Fund, developers of the investorEd.ca website. “Without a financial plan, people run the risk of spending too much today, while failing to consider their future needs.”

The survey also showed that some Ontario investors’ relationships with their financial advisors may need improvement. One quarter (24%) of individuals who have both investments and a financial advisor indicate that they don’t ask a lot of questions of their advisors, citing reasons such as a lack of confidence or knowledge. In addition, more than one in 10 (13% or close to half a million investors across the province) admit to speaking with their advisor or broker about the financial performance of their portfolios less than once a year or not at all.

“One of the first rules of investing is to never put your money in something you don’t understand,” offers Hamza. “When their advisor recommends a certain strategy, investors need to understand it and how it fits their goals. They also need to track how their investments are doing, at least on an annual basis.”

The survey also shows that many people who have investments in Ontario are willing to go it alone without professional financial advice. While six in 10 Ontarians have investments (60%), four in ten of these investors do not have a financial advisor.

The OnvestorED.ca/Ipsos Reid poll was conducted from September 3 to 7. A representative randomly selected sample of 905 adult Ontarians was interviewed online. The results are considered accurate to within ±3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.