How well do you manage money? Not nearly as well as you think, studies show. The lack of financial literacy education in Jamaica has had devastating effects on our people — effects we have come to accept as normal.

Ideally, financial education would be taught in the home at a young age by responsible parents. Here, our nation’s youth should have learnt about money, its value, saving, investment, and responsible spending, but the reality is that many parents have very little knowledge about this themselves.

 

This is exemplified in the Financial Services Commission’s (FSC) 2012 National Financial Literacy Baseline Survey which noted that less than half of Jamaicans received a high score for making wise financial choices. This survey highlighted that Jamaicans appear to have difficulties with the concept of the time value of money and calculating the impact of compounding interest on savings.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/opinion/financial-literacy-to-end-inequality-and-poverty_234667?profile=1096