Evelyn Jacks: Online Commerce Demands Principles For Financial Literacy

Canadians are increasingly transacting online and tracking the path the money takes – into and out of various accounts – and credit arrangements can be complicated, frustrating at times, and difficult to track.

What are the basic financial literacy skills required for the times? It begins by understanding the responsibilities and potential threats of opening accounts with various personal information and accessing these with private logons.

Next are the numerous financial documents Canadians must read, process, double check, file and retrieve for various purposes including tax filing. Consider the following list:

• A pay stub
• A bank reconciliation statement
• An income statement
• A balance sheet
   
• A personal net worth statement
• An employment contract
• A pension contract
• Social Benefit Entitlements from CPP/EI/OAS
• A T3, T4, T4A, T5, T4A(P), T4A(OAS), etc.
• A tax return
• A personal net worth statement
• A financial plan
• Financial contracts:  cell phone plan, credit card agreements, mortgages, etc.
• Investment contracts: (GIC, TFSA, PRPP, RRSP, RRIF, RESP, RDSP, various non-registered investments)

It’s Your Money. Your Life. Do you know and understand basic financial documents and how they are impacted by tax and fees? If you don’t, consider working with a tax and financial advisory team.

Evelyn Jacks is president of Knowledge Bureau and author of 51 books on tax and personal wealth management. Her newest book Jacks on Tax: 2014 Edition is now available. She is also the founder and director of the Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC). The theme of the 2014 three day think tank in Horseshoe Bay, Texas Nov 9-12 will be “Think BIG: Find the Sweet Spots in Wealth Management”  Follow Evelyn on Twitter at @EvelynJacks.