Back in March, my colleague Rachel S. presented a interactive Money on Trees seminar to more than 150 young women in high school and post-secondary education, at the Born 2 Lead conference in Niagara-on-the-Lake. I’ve asked Rachel to be a guest blogger this week, here is what she has to say about an interesting article she found in the Toronto Star.

I was privileged to be asked to come and deliver a financial literacy seminar to an exceptional audience of intelligent young women at the B2L conference. The workshop was called, Managing Your Life and Money: A Students Guide to Growing Up Financially. The workshop looked at a variety of unique challenges faced by young adults today, but the audience was made up of young women and that’s why this Toronto Star article caught my attention.

A recent Toronto Star article looked specifically at financial literacy and young women. The article looked at Canadian financial author Lesley-Anne Scorgie, who wrote the book “Well-heeled, The Smart Girl’s Guide to Getting Rich”. I think Scorgie is an inspiration to all young people, not just women. She’s 30 years old and a financial literacy author, and not only that, but she’s achieved much more than that –from buying a house, to getting her MBA and so much more, as outline in the article. In the article Scorgie says “young women may be intimidated by a lack of financial knowledge but are eager to learn and better at money management then young men.” So it seems there’s a lot more work to be done.

The Star also quoted Scorgie as saying, “She says this lack of knowledge has helped lead to high levels of debt among young women even as they enjoy the benefits of better education and higher salaries relative to previous generations.” As we all know, consumer debt is a hot topic in Canada and around the world.

I really enjoyed reading some of Scorgie’s top money tips from this article. Here they are, just in case you didn’t get to read the entire article:

• Talk to your children, especially your girls, about money. The more they know, the better they’ll be able to make good choices later on.

• Start early. The sooner you start saving, the greater the benefit from the compounding power of growth in their portfolio.

• Avoid ‘bad’ debt which is borrowing for consumption rather than to buy an asset that will gain in value over time. Bad debt is a ball and chain.

• Invest in yourself. Education improves your ability to make money and compete for better jobs.

This is one of many reasons why FirstOntario started Money on Trees, to help create awareness about financial literacy and consumer debt, to help young people avoid common financial mistakes.

If you’re a high school teacher or leader of a not-for-profit or community group that could benefit from a Money on Trees presentation in the Niagara, Hamilton, Halton or Oxford County region, feel free to send us an e-mail requesting your FREE in-person Money on Trees seminar. These seminars offer a variety of helpful resources and links to information, to better equip young people to make educated everyday money management decisions. They’re fun, free and interactive!

I just want to thank my colleague Rachel S. for being our guest blogger this week and sharing this article with us.

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