Finance

Canada needs to be ‘fiscally prudent’ in budget, finance minister says

Published

10 months ago

January 24, 2023

Canada needs to be ‘fiscally prudent’ in budget, finance minister says

OTTAWA, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stated on Tuesday her strategy to this yr’s finances, due out someday this spring, could be fastidiously calibrated on account of a excessive stage of uncertainty within the world economic system.

“There’s nonetheless a whole lot of uncertainty on the earth economic system, and that signifies that we do must proceed to take a fiscally prudent strategy,” Freeland stated in reply to a reporter’s question about this yr’s finances that was streamed on-line.

“We nonetheless have no idea for positive how the aircraft goes to land. We have no idea for positive how the COVID recession goes to lastly play out,” she stated in Hamilton, Ontario on the sidelines of a gathering of cupboard ministers.

Final fall, Freeland promised to not make the central financial institution’s job of taming decades-high inflation tougher when she introduced a fall fiscal replace, which did nonetheless embody C$11.3 billion in new spending that some analysts stated was an excessive amount of.

Inflation remains to be over 6% – greater than 3 times the central financial institution’s 2% goal. The Financial institution of Canada will announce its newest interest-rate resolution on Wednesday, with analysts forecasting a quarter-point improve after which doubtless a pause.

The federal government has already stated it was keen to extend well being transfers to the provinces this yr, and that it needed to take a position to make Canada extra aggressive with the USA because it pivots towards inexperienced applied sciences.

Canada has additionally pledged to bolster its personal navy and to maintain serving to Ukraine with weapons and help.

Reporting by Steve Scherer
Enhancing by Mark Heinrich

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.

Related Topics:AMERS CA CEN DBT ECI ECO ECON GEN GFIN GVD INFL INT MCE NAMER PLCY POL tax

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Finance

Taxes, savings, credit scores: How do NY schools stack up in personal finance education?

Published

4 hours ago

December 5, 2023

Press Room

Taxes, savings, credit scores: How do NY schools stack up in personal finance education?

When it comes to teaching kids personal finance, New York scores a B.

The grades come from The Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.

Twenty other states shared also got a B, which they earned because they require some amount of personal finance education — but fall short of a semester-long standalone course in personal finance, which would earn them an A.

“Not a day will go by after a student graduates from high school that they don’t think about money,” John Pelletier, director of the Center for Financial Literacy, said in an interview.

New York requires only that students get about 15 hours of personal finance instruction as part of a 12th-grade course in economics, he said.

Pelletier stressed the importance of financial literacy during a time when “it gets more and more complex every day.” He noted all the new apps that keep popping up to help manage finances.

There is plenty of information to pack into a semester-long course, he said: understanding budgeting, taxes, credit scores, saving for retirement, interest, income expectations for different careers, and how to avoid habits like using payday loans.

Making personal finance a priority

Pelletier said there are three ways for states to fit in a required semester-long course:

Requiring personal finance in place of an elective.
Adding it as a requirement without taking any other course away.
Allowing it to count towards more than one requirement for graduation. For example: allow it to count as a math, social studies, fine arts or foreign language credit.

If not mandated, personal finance education tends to be required in richer, whiter schools, Pelletier said. Therefore, the best way to create equity is through statewide policies, he said.

Seven states currently get an A for requiring a semester-long class. But that number is supposed to hit 24 by 2028 as more states get serious about teaching personal finance.

In New York, several bills would require a standalone course in personal finance, but it’s unclear if any have a shot of becoming law, Pelletier said.

He also noted a 2022 survey of 1,030 adults by the National Endowment for Financial Education, in which 88% of respondents wanted their states to require a semester- or year-long financial education course in high school. Even more telling: 80% wished they were required to take one when they were in school.

Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana.

Finance

Grand Rapids finance park teaches students real-world money strategies

Published

10 hours ago

December 4, 2023

Press Room

Grand Rapids finance park teaches students real-world money strategies

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids nonprofit commemorated the opening of a handful of new spaces meant to support students Monday.

There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Karl & Susan Hascall JA Finance Park along with six others. It’s all thanks to a program operated by the Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes (JAMGL).

Their goal is to give students their best shot at life after graduating, incorporating real-life scenarios they should know.

“We have this partnership with JA that allows us to offer exposure for young leaders and how they think about their careers and provide that important financial literacy at the same time,” says SpartanNash CEO Tony Sarsam.

The program is open to students in eighth through 12^th grade. Attendees will spend a full day at the finance park, where they will be instructed to establish a monthly budget paired with a randomly chosen career and hypothetical living scenario.

“They’ll learn about what it takes to make a transportation decision, a housing decision or utilities decision, and how they all work together,” says Junior Achievement President & CEO William Coderre. “The whole idea is to build a balanced budget.”

JAMGL estimates more than 20,000 students will visit the center annually.

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Finance

Wakeman Boys & Girls Club’s financial literacy program aims to give Bridgeport teens life skills

Published

17 hours ago

December 4, 2023

Press Room

Wakeman Boys & Girls Club’s financial literacy program aims to give Bridgeport teens life skills

BRIDGEPORT — Even though she is just 18-years-old, Andrea Palacios already owns her own business.

The Harding High School senior spends her spare time printing custom shirts, sweatshirts and other items that she sells online to fellow students and fans of her artwork.

But the budding entrepreneur is still new to the ins and outs of running a business. That’s why she has signed up to join the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club’s new finance lab, a financial literacy program designed to give teenagers the skills to balance a checkbook, take out loans and save money.

“I am starting to build my career and I don’t want a bad financial decision to affect my credit score,” Palacios said in an interview. “I want to learn how to keep my business expenses separate from my own expenses.”

Wakeman is preparing to launch the afterschool program in January at its brand new, nearly 45,000-square-foot clubhouse on Madison Avenue with an inaugural class of about 15 to 20 high school-aged participants.

Carlos Collazo, the facility’s executive director, described the lab as a hands-on program in which students will learn about budgeting, credit cards, college financial planning and other ways to build wealth.

The lessons will incorporate games and other activities to keep students engaged and the participants will also have the opportunity to shadow professionals at their workplaces and participate in an internship. The program is open to those at least 14 years old, but could expand to include younger children in the future.

“The vast majority of our youth growing up are low-income, so opportunities like this don’t come around too often,” Collazo said.

The new two-story clubhouse, which opened in early October near Central High School currently has little more than 100 members between 5-and-18-years-old and hopes to grow to up to 135 by the end of the year, Collazo said.

The building features two gymnasiums, an early learning center, a performing arts studio, a kitchen and cafeteria, classroom space, youth and teenager lounges and a science, technology, engineering and mathematics center.

Palacios is not the only student eager to pick up new skills with the finance lab. Nate Page, a 16-year-old Bassick High School student who works part-time for Wakeman, said he hopes to open a bank account and get a credit card, but is also curious about borrowing money.

“I don’t know anything about loans,” Page said. “If I’m going to be honest I don’t know anything financially. So I am excited to learn.”

The lab has been funded through a $100,000 grant from Stamford-based Webster Bank, a longtime supporter of the non-profit organization. The money will allow Wakeman to hire a dedicated finance instructor who will be based at the Madison Avenue clubhouse.

Marissa Weidner, Webster’s chief corporate responsibility officer, said the donation was offered to help youth in the communities it serves learn how to grow their wealth over time. She noted the bank has previously supported similar programs in New York and has announced plans for others elsewhere in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

“A lot of people don’t have the tools that they need to make financially sound decisions,” Weidner said. “The earlier you start, the better off you are. So our goal is to empower economic development and economic vitality in our communities by investing at this high school age.”