Len Steinhardt (Letters, October 1) is right, and the gap he describes is wider today than it was 30 years ago. Anyone with a smartphone can now buy a JSE share in minutes, often before they know what a p:e ratio is. Access is no longer the problem; understanding is.
His list of questions is a good syllabus, but I would start even more basic: what is the difference between assets and investments, and between unit trusts, ETFs and retirement annuities?
In my experience of teaching personal finance, people are rarely short of intelligence. Steinhardt is a scientist, after all. What people lack is good, simple knowledge and vocabulary, and someone willing to explain without condescension. The FM has the credibility, the reader reach and the depth of real-life information to do this better than anyone, and to make it practical rather than textbook. A short, regular explainer, one concept at a time and illustrated with real South African examples, would earn exactly the loyal new readers he has in mind.
Another thing we notice is that more and more new-generation companies do not have the mandatory employee benefit schemes that companies used to have. This is problematic, since young people do not know how to build wealth, yet they are expected to do this themselves. The previous generation that could have taught them did not do it themselves, as their employers did it on their behalf. I have spoken to many people in the financial planning industry, and the view is the same: unless education and wealth-building skills are addressed, we will have a huge problem within 30 years.
It is time to prioritise teaching people basic financial skills.
Jaco de Wet, CA, founder of Writing with Rands