“Education, education…” So crooned the Mighty Sparrow, accompanied by the St Joseph’s Convent (Port of Spain) choir and Desperadoes steel orchestra, on the St Mary’s College stage at last weekend’s The Stars are Brightly Shining concert.

Perhaps the kind of education to which that classic calypso refers needs to be broadened today to include financial literacy.

Alongside the undeniable signs of real poverty in our country, there are many signs that “money is no problem”, or as one weekly business magazine put it, it’s a matter of: “Have money, will spend.”

Consumerism is rampant; our wants soon become our needs. More attention needs to be paid on how we spend, and that applies at all levels, whether at the macro-economic level (be it the public or private sector) or indeed at the level of the individual.

Many people pay insufficient attention to ensure that their financial dealings make sense. How many of us examine our banking habits and preferences and arrange our banking in such a manner that the fees are minimal?

In today’s supposed time of plenty, it makes sense to have our citizenry focused on spending wisely and to help them become financially literate.

But financial literacy is not just about minimising banking fees and spending wisely. It is also about understanding the importance of saving and setting something aside for retirement and the rainy day, which we know will eventually come. Achieving many of our goals – whether it’s a new car, a grand wedding or a pilgrimage to Jerusalem – requires that we commit to saving.

As a country, we do not have a culture of savings. We have a culture of spending. If we indeed have more to spend because of the buoyancy in the economy, then now is the time to save.

The virtue of financial management

The creation of the Heritage Fund by the Government is a welcome manifestation at a national level of the importance of saving. It is now time to engage the citizenry to follow suit.

The Government must be commended for its initiative to promote financial literacy. The challenge, as always, is implementation. The Central Bank has been given that job and Governor Ewart Williams treated with the issue at a recent conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago (ICATT).

His thinking is that the financial education process must start in schools. He also made the point that the educators must come from among the students’ peers so they would not feel they were being talked down to, a very insightful perspective since finance is such a personal matter.

We must also not lose sight of the fact that one’s culture and value system play a role in determining whether or not one is likely to be financially savvy. It is in the home that an attitude of thoughtful and prudent spending and disciplined and generous saving should be nurtured.

 Tied to all of this is the idea that one should not live only for today, but should make provision for tomorrow and, in the Christian tradition, for eternity.

The values of discipline and sacrifice taught and learned through wise spending and constant saving will serve us all in good stead – today, tomorrow and, perhaps, even thereafter.

Today’s first reading tells us “the learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars....”

We in the Church need to use our resources of time, talent and treasure in learning and instructing others in the virtue of maintaining financial health. We support any moves in our country to encourage and promote financial literacy.