Free personal finance education to be offered to people in workplaces across Ireland under Government initiative - Bruton
16 April 2012
Minister launches National Consumer Agency's Money Skills for Life workplace programme
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, today launched the National Consumer Agency’s Money Skills for Life programme, which provides free independent personal finance education to employees in their workplace.
Through the programme, specially-trained and accredited volunteer financial experts will deliver a one-hour presentation to employees in workplaces across the country on how better to manage their personal finances.
Employees will also be provided with an easy-to-use financial education guide, containing useful information and tools to help them make informed personal financial decisions. The programme is suitable for those in employment but who may be trying to manage on less money and possibly have some debts and financial worries about the future.
The programme was developed following the findings of the National Steering Group on financial education, which recommended the development of a model to educate consumers on personal finances directly in the workplace.
The launch comes after a highly successful pilot of the programme, which saw it delivered in 53 workplaces across Ireland.
A survey carried out following this pilot showed:
- 99% of attendees said they were more confident about their finances
- 95% of attendees would recommend their employers running the programme again
- 87% of attendees found the programme ‘very’ or ‘quite useful’
- 52 of the 53 employers involved said they would run the programme again
- Three months after the programme, 52% said they had made money savings as a result of the programme
Launching the programme, Minister Bruton said: “In these difficult times, it is crucial for consumers to have access to good information and make good choices about their personal finances. However, it is very easy for people to become bewildered by the jargon, small print and complicated calculations surrounding many aspects of this field, and good information and advice is sometimes hard to come by.
“Government has a role in redressing the balance in favour of the consumer, and a key part of this is providing good information and education in an accessible form.
“The NCA has developed an excellent programme which will be delivered directly to consumers for free. By delivering this programme in the workplace, financial education will be made available to a broad group of people.
“The experience of employees and employers has been highly positive to date, and many people have made real financial savings as a result of the programme. I urge people to get involved in this valuable programme, get access to information and education, and help tilt the balance in favour of financial services consumers.”
Ann Fitzgerald, Chief Executive of the NCA, stated: “We all have lessons to learn when it comes to managing our money and there are some simple and straightforward things we can all do to make our money go further and to prepare as much as we can for the future.
“Money Skills for Life gives employees an opportunity to enhance these necessary life skills at no cost to them or to their employer in their place of work. I would encourage employers to log on to www.financialeducation.ie to book a presentation.”
Topics covered in the Money Skills for Life programme include:
- Sorting out your money
- Saving and investing
- Protecting your family and your belongings
- Borrowing money
- Dealing with debt
- Planning for later life
- Making a complaint
The information provided in the presentations is supported by the NCA’s consumer website, www.nca.ie and consumer helpline. Employers can log on to www.financialeducation.ie for more information and to book a presentation.
Notes
- There is no direct cost to the exchequer from this programme as it is funded by a levy on financial services providers.
- The Money Skills for Life Working Group consists of key stakeholders from the financial services industry. Presenters are drawn from the financial services sector, consumer organisations and the National Consumer Agency, and all are trained and overseen by the NCA with accreditation given. Members: AIB, Bank of Ireland, Central Bank of Ireland, Citizen’s Information Board, Citibank Europe Plc., EBS, Institute of Bankers, Irish Insurance Federation, Irish Life & Permanent, LIA, MABS, National Irish Bank, The Insurance Institute of Ireland, The Pensions Board, Ulster Bank.
- A pilot for the Money Skills for Life workplace programme was completed in 2011 across 53 employers in a broad range of public and private sector organisations. The main outcomes of the 2011 pilot programme evaluation showed:
Attitudinal
- 95% of attendees would recommend their employers running the programme again
- 87% of attendees found the programme content to be ‘very’ or ‘quite useful’
- 84% of attendees felt the level of information was ‘about right’
- 95% of presenters rated their experience as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’
- ‘Managing your money’ was considered the most useful content across all age profiles
- 52 of the 53 employers involved in the pilot said they would run the programme again
Behavioural
- Immediately following the presentation, 55% of attendees felt they were ‘much more confident’ and 44% felt ‘a little more confident’ about (an aspect of) their finances. And three months after the presentation, the majority of respondents (67%) reported that their confidence levels remained unchanged. In addition, 17% had increased levels of confidence
- 88% said they were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ likely to use the NCA’s booklet, website or helpline following the presentation. Of those we surveyed 3 months later, 61% used one of the NCA’s websites and 69% used the booklet
- Of the 106 attendees who indicated that they had made changes to their money habits three months since the presentation, the majority made money managing/budget changes as well as shopping around related changes. A lesser number made changes to their credit card usage and savings. And a minority made changes to their debts/loans as well as pensions. Many gave examples of how they planned to make changes following the presentation
- Of the attendees who participated in the three month post evaluation survey, 52% claimed they made money savings and 32% of these respondents claimed to have made savings between €500 - €1,000 annually