Why is financial education so important?

I have often asked myself this question. 

When I started this journey I wanted to demystify financial advice because there is so much misinformation being pumped into the media and unless we can change this, the industry is in danger of being demonised. Ultimately the idea of demystifying financial advice underlies everything I do.

However, a lesson coming from this is a basic understanding of what we face and that many people are so far adrift from saving because of a basic lack of financial education. Effectively we need to relate to people in everything we do and produce. 

Financial education has been a central theme for me and this covers getting out to educate people about money, helping with job hunting and eventually teaching the concept of financial planning.

What I have learnt is that the road is rocky and when you think you are close to something it seems to get further away. In fact you sometimes feel that no-one wants financial education - I am not sure why but Pink Floyd came to mind:

"We don't need no education

We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!"

What I am excited about is that today I have completed my first financial education lesson covering job hunting, cvs and budgeting / goal setting. This will be on-going but the buzz from helping just one person makes you realise why financial education is so important, if we can all help one person we can make a big difference.