BANK OFFICIALS are being called upon to help consumers manage their own cash through one-hour personal finance classes in workplaces across the State under the auspices of the National Consumer Agency.
Thirty trainers have been drafted in from the banks to give the course; if there is sufficient interest more will be trained.
The consumer body’s Money Skills for Life programme which was launched yesterday is offering “free independent personal finance education” to employees and comes at no cost to the exchequer as it is being funded directly by the banks.
The programme will see a team of 30 “specially trained and accredited volunteer financial experts” deliver presentations on how people can manage their personal finances.
At the launch of the programme yesterday, Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton said it was “crucial” for consumers to have access to good information.
However he warned that it was “very easy for people to become bewildered by the jargon, small print and complicated calculations surrounding many aspects of this field.”
Employees who take part in the course will also be given a financial education guide with information and tools to help them make personal financial decisions.
The course was developed in the wake of a report from a national steering group on financial education, which recommended that consumers be educated on personal finances in the workplace.
It was chosen as the ideal setting because the agency thought it would give it access to as broad a range of people as possible.
Topics to be covered in the courses include sorting out money; saving and investing; protecting family and belongings; borrowing; dealing with debt; planning for later life and making a complaint.
It may seem like a lot of information to cram into an hour but a pilot programme involving 53 workplaces across the Republic was very well received.
That survey found that 99 per cent of the more than 500 people who had taken part were more confident about their finances after finishing the class, while 95 per cent said they would recommend the programme be run again.
It also found that three months after the programme had been completed, 52 per cent of those who had taken the class said they had saved money because of it.
In a statement, the agency’s chief executive Ann Fitzgerald said everyone had “lessons to learn when it comes to managing our money”.
She described the programme as an opportunity for employees “to enhance these necessary life skills at no cost to them or to their employer in their place of work”.
Ms Fitzgerald encouraged employers to visit financialeducation.ieto book a presentation.
