The results of a survey conducted by TD show that nearly 50% of Canadians have had negative consequences for their family finances in connection with Covid-19.
Despite the continued impact of COVID-19, one-third (34%) of respondents are uncomfortable talking about their finances, which makes it harder to turn around their finances or achieve their financial goals. The largest proportion of respondents indicated that they did not think it was polite to talk about money (37%), that they did not want to appear to be bragging (13%) or that they did not want to be judged (18%). In fact, only 31% of respondents admit that they will seek help from their financial institution.
We also find a significant proportion of respondents who say they are not comfortable talking about finances because either their financial situation is not good at the moment (28%), or they have difficulties and do not know who to turn to (12%) or they are not confident they can manage their money and are embarrassed to talk about it (9%).
“We know that many Canadians are uncomfortable talking about their personal finances, but asking for help managing your money is an extremely important step towards financial health and confidence, said Nicolas Brazeau, financial planner, TD Wealth Management. We support financial education in Canada, and we work to help eliminate the stigma often associated with conversations about personal finance.”
Canadians would prefer
The TD poll shows that Canadians prefer to keep their financial conversations low-key and are reluctant to discuss their finances with people outside of their acquaintances. Six in ten respondents (58%) are willing to tell their family members about their financial situation, while only three in ten would tell someone at their financial institution (31%) or their friends (28%).
The survey also showed that Canadians’ reluctance to talk about money, whether in person or online, translates into reluctance to talk about finances even with a dedicated financial professional. Surprisingly, six in ten respondents (59%) say they are less afraid of going to the doctor than meeting their financial advisor.
About the study
The Ipsos poll, conducted between October 26th and 28th , 2020 on behalf of TD Bank Group, was conducted with a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18 and over. The sample for this survey was weighted to ensure that its composition reflects that of the adult population according to data from the last census and to provide results representative of the entire population. The accuracy of Ipsos online surveys is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
