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Ipsos Reid / The Province Financial Literacy PollFinal Results September 16, 2010

MethodologyThese are the findings of an online Ipsos Reid / The Province poll of 1,376 adult British Columbiansconducted using Ipsos Reids online household panel between August 22 and 29, 2011. A survey withan unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimatedmargin of error of 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error would be largerwithin sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure thesample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to 2006Census data.

Ipsos Reid ContactKyle Braid, Vice President, Ipsos Reid Public Affairs, (778) 373-5130

RESULTS

Overall Assessment of Personal Financial ManagementQ1. How would you rate yourself on each of the following aspects of personal financial

management?

Total%

18-34 yrs%

35-49 yrs%

50-64 yrs%

65+ yrs%

Your level of knowledge of what to do:

Very good 13 7 19 13 16

Good 41 43 38 39 49

Fair 35 36 32 38 30

Poor 9 12 9 8 4

Very poor 2 2 1 1 1

Total Good 55 50 57 53 65

Total Poor 10 15 10 9 5

Your performance at actually doing what you should do:

Very good 9 4 12 9 9

Good 32 29 30 29 32

Fair 40 47 38 39 40

Poor 14 12 16 18 14

Very poor 5 8 4 4 5

Total Good 40 33 42 38 40

Total Poor 19 21 20 22 19

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Assessment of Basic Financial TasksQ2. More specifically, how would you rate yourself on each of the following?

Total

%

18-34 yrs

%

35-49 yrs

%

50-64 yrs

%

65+ yrs

%Controlling your spending:

Very good 21 15 23 21 28

Good 35 32 36 35 41

Fair 30 31 28 32 24

Poor 12 20 8 10 6

Very poor 3 3 4 2 1

Total Good 56 47 59 56 69

Total Poor 15 22 13 12 7

Making and sticking to a budget:Very good 15 14 15 14 22

Good 30 23 36 31 34

Fair 35 43 31 33 32

Poor 14 13 15 18 9

Very poor 5 7 4 4 4

Total Good 46 37 51 45 55

Total Poor 19 20 18 22 12

Investing your savings:

Very good 13 10 15 12 20

Good 32 28 33 33 40

Fair 28 26 25 33 25

Poor 17 19 19 15 11

Very poor 10 17 8 7 5

Total Good 45 38 48 45 59

Total Poor 27 36 27 23 15

Personal Financial Plans and Information

Q3. Which of the following types of personal financial plans and information do you have?

Total%

18-34 yrs%

35-49 yrs%

50-64 yrs%

65+ yrs%

Detailed records of how your money isspent

47 38 49 47 60

A personal or household spending budget 39 34 46 37 40

A debt reduction plan 18 16 23 20 13

A written financial plan to achieve yourfinancial goals

17 8 21 19 20

None of these 34 43 29 35 23

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Good Understanding of Financial TermsQ4. Please indicate whether you have a good understanding of each of the following financial

terms.

TotalYes %

18-34 yrsYes %

35-49 yrsYes %

50-64 yrsYes %

65+ yrsYes %

Registered Retirement Savings Plans(RRSPs)

70 55 75 77 75

Tax Free Savings Accounts 66 60 66 67 75

Life insurance 59 51 60 62 65

Fixed or variable mortgage 59 45 64 66 60

Term deposits 58 34 59 70 74

Compound interest 56 40 59 66 64

Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) 56 41 57 63 69

Mutual funds 51 34 59 57 61

Registered Education Savings Plans(RESPs)

45 41 54 45 36

Bonds 39 24 40 48 49

Stock market 37 28 41 40 39

Deposit insurance 37 20 41 45 42

Common stocks 31 15 34 39 41

Treasury bills 22 11 22 28 30

Preferred stocks 19 6 20 26 31

Exchange Traded Funds 11 7 15 12 12

Monthly SavingsQ5. Do you put aside money each month for long-term savings or emergency expenditures?Q6. [IF YES] On average, how much money do you put aside each month for long-term savings or

emergency expenditures? (Please provide your best estimate)

Total%

18-34 yrs%

35-49 yrs%

50-64 yrs%

65+ yrs%

Yes, a certain amount each month 28 21 36 32 20

Yes, although the amount varies per month 23 16 23 23 33

Only when I have money for savings thatmonth

28 42 20 26 18

No 21 21 21 19 29

Average Per Month (among those sayingeither Yes response)

$635 $715 $482 $573 $829

Median Per Month (among those sayingeither Yes response)

$400 $450 $300 $300 $300

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Barriers to Achieving Financial SecurityQ7. Which of the following, if any, are significant barriers to you achieving financial security?

Total%

18-34 yrs%

35-49 yrs%

50-64 yrs%

65+ yrs%

Unexpected expenses 46 53 47 43 35

High level of debt (including mortgage) 30 48 33 22 9

Difficulty saving money on a regular basis 30 43 29 23 18

Difficulty controlling your spending 18 29 15 15 8

Lack of understanding of how tosave/invest

9 14 11 5 3

None of these 31 15 26 39 52

Biggest and Second Biggest ExpensesQ8. Which of the following are your two biggest expenditures right now?

Biggest Second BiggestTotal%

18-34 yrs%

35-49 yrs%

50-64 yrs%

65+ yrs%

Mortgage 30 7 29 4 45 9 27 9 13 4

Debt payments (other than mortgage) 15 14 20 14 13 18 13 15 11 8

Rent 14 7 15 14 16 7 13 4 9 4

Food for home 11 20 9 14 6 23 11 22 20 22

Transportation4 15 4 15 2 15 6 16 6 16

Education 4 4 11 7 2 4 3 2 1 1

Investing 3 3 0 2 3 5 6 4 4 2

Health care 2 5 0 6 2 2 2 4 9 9

Entertainment 2 3 4 5 1 2 2 3 2 4

Food away from home 1 4 0 8 1 2 2 2 3 3

Clothing

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Important Financial GoalsQ9. Which of the following are important financial goals to you right now?

Total

%

18-34 yrs

%

35-49 yrs

%

50-64 yrs

%

65+ yrs

%Paying off debt 50 65 53 44 29

Saving for retirement 44 32 58 58 16

Keeping up with my day-to-day expenses 38 46 37 32 35

Saving for a rainy day 29 37 32 21 23

Saving for a significant purchase (car,vacation, etc)

27 36 31 19 18

Making money investing in the financialmarkets

17 10 18 18 23

Saving for childrens education 15 19 27 7 2

Saving to buy a home 11 29 9 3 1

Saving to buy a second home (investment,recreation property)

5 5 7 5 2

None of these 6 5 3 5 15

Confidence at Meeting Financial GoalsQ10. [IF AT LEAST ONE GOAL] How confident are you that you will achieve your current financial

goals?

Total%

18-34 yrs%

35-49 yrs%

50-64 yrs%

65+ yrs%

Very confident 19 22 19 17 21

Confident 50 46 45 53 59

Not very confident 26 30 30 24 19

Not at all confident 5 2 6 7 1

Total Confident 69 67 64 69 80

Confidence of Secure Retirement (Among Retired)Q11. [IF RETIRED] How confident are you that you will be financially secure throughout your

retirement?

Total%

18-34 yrs%

35-49 yrs%

50-64 yrs%

65+ yrs%

Very confident 21 Sample Sample 21 21

Confident 54 Size Size 52 55

Not very confident 19 Too Too 16 22

Not very confident 6 Small Small 11 3

Total Confident 75 73 76

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Confidence of Secure Retirement (Among Non-Retired)Q12. [IF NOT RETIRED] How confident are you that you will be financially secure when you retire?

Total

%

18-34 yrs

%

35-49 yrs

%

50-64 yrs

%

65+ yrs

%Very confident 11 10 15 10 Sample

Confident 43 48 38 41 Size

Not very confident 29 30 30 27 Too

Not very confident 15 11 15 20 Small

Do not plan to retire 2 1 2 2

Total Confident 54 58 52 50

Importance of Learning about Personal Financial Management

Q14. In your view, how important is

Total%

18-34 yrs%

35-49 yrs%

50-64 yrs%

65+ yrs%

it for parents to teach their children about personal financial management?

Very important 80 85 76 76 81

Important 19 13 22 24 18

Not very important 1 0 1 0 1

Not very important 0 1 0 0 0

Total Important 99 99 98 100 99

learning about personal financial management to succeeding in life?

Very important 61 54 64 62 65

Important 34 35 34 34 33

Not very important 5 10 3 4 3

Not very important 0 1 0 0 0

Total Important 95 89 97 96 97