Financial literacy: “I am no longer afraid of the stock market”

Quebecers are increasingly worried about their financial situation, and that is why they are also becoming more and more interested in it.

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Surveys show it: only 48% of Quebecers believe they save enough to achieve their long-term goals, according to TD. Only 53% make investments at least once a year and 40% of them have never made an investment. Almost 80% say they are concerned about their current and future financial situation, according to RBC. Same observation among our young people: 73% of them know that they do not have the necessary knowledge to make informed financial decisions, according to Intuit Canada.

“People are worried,” underlines Isabelle Garon, senior vice-president, Marketing and Communications at Desjardins. “What we have been experiencing for three or four years is completely crazy. Galloping inflation, broken supply chains, the cost of housing… The consumer is put under pressure,” she says. That’s why financial literacy is so important, she says. “Knowing your personal finances well means being able to say to yourself: “I know what I have, I know what it’s worth and I know what to do with my money, within my means to achieve my goals” “, she summarizes.

Fortunately for some, financial education has changed their lives. The Journal went out into the field to meet them, to highlight the financial concerns of Quebecers.

Taking an interest in your finances completely changed your life

Lynn Beaumont didn’t have a penny saved a few years ago before she took an interest in her finances. Today, she has invested more than $60,000 and has just purchased a fourplex, without it making a dent in her budget.

“I was not at all interested in my finances, and I never made a budget,” says the 49-year-old woman, as if speaking of a very distant past. “Then I met someone who made me understand how important it is.”

This meeting was decisive to say the least. The former cycling trainer decided to change careers and train to become a financial advisor herself. His personal situation then changed completely.

“Four years ago, I had debts, I wasn’t saving at all, then I invested more than $60,000 and bought a fourplex,” says the Saint-Jérôme resident proudly. .

“First, I learned to live with the money that comes in, then to pay myself first,” she adds, explaining that she cut unnecessary expenses.

“People think we deprive ourselves, but it’s the opposite. The more intelligent financial decisions you make, the more things you can do,” she says.

“I am no longer afraid of the stock market”

“Before, I was afraid of the stock market. For me, it was like the priests with Latin, it was just for the people who knew that.”

For a long time, Lynn Joncas didn’t worry about her finances. “I didn’t know how to handle it. The only thing that kept me from getting into debt was that it was important for me to be free, and if I owed money, I felt that it restricted my freedom. says the 68-year-old woman.

It was only in the second half of her forties that the ex-teacher started investing, a decision that paid off.

“Sometimes I find myself thinking that all the interest and compound interest I made on the money I invested was money that worked for me!” she rejoices, paying lip service to the fact that these interests have allowed her to accumulate an “amount in the six figures” over the years.

“I should have started earlier,” she muses.