Sound advice is not just for the rich

One vexing thing about financial planning is that if you have lots of money, you can get advice for free, but if you don’t have much then it can be hard to find any help at all.

- IAN BICKIS

The federal government has acknowledged as much in its current financial literacy strategy.

“While relevant and unbiased financial advice is available to those who can afford it, low cost or free options for advice are limited,” wrote the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

But while many Canadians fall into the space of finding it difficult to get advice on everything from budgeting to tax help to retirement plans, there are options out there, and more on the way.

For those with low and moderate incomes, a search for non-profit credit counselling or financial counselling will often lead to free community resources, as opposed to looking for certified financial planners that can run into the thousands of dollars for detailed advice.

Not only is the affordability starkly different, but so is the kind of advice offered.