By Frank Conway
Every day, I work with adults across Ireland on their financial planning needs. Some are employed in jobs that do not always pay a lot. Others are extremely well paid.
A common theme is their financial confidence.
Just because someone earns a lot of income is no guarantee they will understand how the personal finance system works. Most require some intervention on taxation, pensions, investing and financial planning. Even their payslips can cause confusion, and often, people fail to claim back tax credits and refunds.
Developed for students
How adults relate with money is the primary reason I launched the MoneyWhizz financial education programme. Its primary objective is to offer senior cycle and transition year students a life skills programme. One that is focused on learning how the money system works. And more importantly, one that is easy to access, easy for teachers to run and completely avoids financial jargon.
Nationwide availability
Lessons for life
The MoneyWhizz financial education course focuses on 6 key areas:
Earning & Income – with detailed examples of how to read a payslip, understand tax and deductions
Saving & Spending – with lessons on personal savings tricks and more.
Credit & Debt – with lessons on dealing with debt and understanding the significance of a personal credit report.
Investing – with examples on diversification, investment risk and understanding key investing principles.
Insurance – with examples of insurance types, deductions and risk evaluation factors.
Personal money management – including budgeting, goal-setting and long-term financial planning.
Simple learning approach
The financial education lessons are presented in video format. This enables teachers and students to view the lessons individually or in a class setting. Plus, there are quizzes which are based on the course content. Teachers are provided with the answers in advance. This supports the teachers in running the content, engaging with students and conducting class evaluation quickly and simply. Plus, an added bonus for teachers is there is no additional learning on their part.
Access across Ireland
To date, over 100 secondary schools from across Ireland have applied and received the 2024 / 2025 course content. Most use it as part of their senior cycle and TY life skills content. Some also incorporate it as part of their business studies courses.
Free to schools
The MoneyWhizz course is free to schools across the Republic of Ireland.
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