A significant number of Canadians are not saving enough money and constantly worry about their finances, yet don’t know where to turn to for help with their financial situations, according to research released on Thursday by Toronto-based Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC).
In fact, more than 40% of Canadians would only have enough money to continue paying their living expenses for one month or less and 19% could get by for one week only.
Canadians are not oblivious to their economic woes as two of every five survey participants say they worry about money at least once a day and about one in four stating that they worry about the issue “almost constantly,” according to the FPSC’s research.
Although some Canadians may benefit from professional financial guidance to help them with these problems, 26% of survey participants say they are unsure of where to turn to for this advice.
The ability to find a financial advisor easily is important, says Kelley Keehn, an author and personal finance educator, who is also acting as the FPSC’s “consumer advocate.”
“We know from previous research that people with comprehensive financial plans report being more confident that they can deal with financial challenges in life while still having enough money for discretionary spending,” she says in a statement.
The FPSC has developed a website, Findyourplanner.ca to help Canadians track down certified professional planners in their communities.
Hill+Knowlton Strategies conducted the national online survey on behalf of the FPSC between July 22 and Aug. 5. The data were collected from 855 individuals that act as a representative sample of the Canadian population.
Photo copyright: ocusfocus/123RF