I was involved in a massive study (n=40k) of Canadians related to financial matters. In Canada, just over 50% receive financial advice from a financial professi

I was involved in a massive study (n=40k) of Canadians related to financial matters. In Canada, just over 50% receive financial advice from a financial professional (advisor, accountant, etc). However, a mere 40% of those receiving advice (in 2014 it was ~30%) are aware that those professionals charge for their services (they all charge!). In the same research we asked a financial literacy quiz with basic questions about debt, investment, and common retirement products and it was extremely rare for anyone (other than a very small contingent of saavy 30-something males) to get all the answers correct. Questions about debt are the most often misunderstood. When regulators ask us what we think - we have the same answer for them as the companies that paid for the research: engage Canadians and teach them about financial literacy - it should be part of the high school curriculum! If this is happening in Canada with it's rather high rates of education, it's probably happening in a lot of other places too.