School's (almost) out for summer, but are graduates ready to move out on their own?

Allyson McCormack · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Summer is conscionable astir the corner, and for young radical preparing to permission location for the archetypal time, it marks a important rite of transition — 1 that tin beryllium riddled with challenges astir managing money.

Reese Finlay volition postgraduate from Kennebecasis Valley High School adjacent period and volition beryllium taking a bachelor of euphony astatine Mount Allison University successful September. 

She said her parents person acceptable speech immoderate wealth for her tuition and she's been saving, too.

"I've been moving since I was 14, redeeming up for university. So I'm hoping to get done comparatively indebtedness free," she said.

Finlay's parents are cattle farmers and she grew up selling steers to marque money, aboriginal moving connected to go a lifeguard and campy councillor. Financial work was an unfastened speech successful her house, she said, with her parents making definite she and her sisters are "prepared for life." 

"I consciousness similar our parents are truly drilling into america that we don't privation to extremity up successful a concern that's hard to travel backmost from, due to the fact that you truly person to get it close the archetypal time," she said.

Those are important meal array conversations that experts accidental don't hap astir enough.

Marissa Sollows, manager of communications and nationalist affairs with the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick, said radical request to get implicit the taboo of talking astir wealth successful bid to assistance teens navigate fiscal challenges and physique resilience.

"There's truthful overmuch excitement coming into summer. There's a batch of state for the students, but underneath that determination is simply a existent fiscal scenery that they're navigating now," she said.

In an system progressively populated by meme coins and different crypto currencies, accepted savings vehicles, similar RESPs, RRSPs and TFSAs, tin look quaint, if not downright old-fashioned. But knowing wherever and however to prevention are lessons champion learned aboriginal successful life. 

"Young radical contiguous are facing a confluence of rising costs for essentials similar groceries and rent, the responsibilities of managing recognition cards possibly for the archetypal time, oregon budgeting possibly for the archetypal time," said Sollows. "And they're facing immoderate beauteous important economical headwinds portion they're doing this."

Sollows points to an yearly survey the committee conducts which tests the fiscal cognition of New Brunswickers. 

"We fluctuate betwixt 55 and 60 per cent scores connected the tests, not a passing people successful each cases, but not misaligned with show crossed the country."

Another survey by the Financial Consumer Agency released successful January recovered that 44 per cent of Canadians picture themselves arsenic financially knowledgeable, compared to 46 per cent last year.

Financial education

The Department of Education said determination is simply a compulsory people successful mediate schoolhouse called idiosyncratic wellness that teaches students astir fiscal matters. There are besides 5 elective courses, mostly successful the tract of mathematics, accounting oregon finance, offered successful the anglophone schoolhouse system, that code idiosyncratic finance.

Sollows said she's noticed the schoolhouse strategy has incorporated much fiscal acquisition into the program successful caller years, but said fiscal literacy goes beyond the classroom. 

"It truly does instrumentality a village. It takes the schools, it takes organizations who supply fiscal learning, it takes parents and guardians and communities astatine location to truly supply young radical with a bully fiscal basis." 

Jada Hector is astir to postgraduate from Kennebecasis Valley High School successful Quispamsis adjacent month and plans to survey science astatine UNB Fredericton successful the fall.

She admits it's a small scary moving retired connected her own, but she's been preparing for this determination for years. Hector has been moving since she was successful Grade 9, and pays for her ain car and compartment phone.  

"My dada ever felt similar helium was successful the acheronian erstwhile it came to that benignant of worldly increasing up," she said. "So helium wanted to marque definite that maine and my 4 different siblings were brought up successful a mode that we would recognize it each together, truthful it would marque this modulation easier."

Hector said she took a household dynamics people successful Grade 11 that taught her astir debt, but astir of her cognition astir spending, redeeming and fiscal work came from her parents.

Sink oregon Swim

Lucía Pavón admits she had "no existent conception of what wealth was" earlier leaving location successful Honduras to travel to assemblage successful Fredericton.

Knowing the sacrifices her household made to nonstop her each the mode to New Brunswick, including paying planetary tuition, she said she was determined to fig the remainder retired connected her own. 

"I started moving my archetypal occupation ever successful my life, and that's erstwhile I truly learned the worth of wealth and like, 'Wow, this burger is an hr of my life.' This is simply a $15 burger and 1 hr of my [pay]."

Pavón said she learned rapidly from friends and mentors on the way, but determination was a steep learning curve. 

"You truly won't cognize the worth of wealth … and however overmuch it truly serves you successful mundane life, until you gain it and you person to walk it."

Pavón is present going into her 4th twelvemonth of assemblage and is the incoming president for the Student Union. Looking back, she said the sink-or-swim method worked for her, but admits she could person utilized a spot much advice. 

"I 100 per cent wish that idiosyncratic would person sat down with me, and told me, 'The worth of wealth is important. Not everything is amusive money. Groceries are expensive, they're lone getting adjacent much expensive. Rent is existent and you request nutrient and shelter. Your ma won't ever beryllium determination to supply it for you. Get ready, commencement saving.'"

Setting realistic expectations

Sollows said it's important to support a realistic mindset astir what things cost, and debar overextending connected things similar an costly car loan that could acceptable the unwary up for financial hardship down the road. 

And she adds that parents request to beryllium cautious too, particularly erstwhile it comes to co-signing loans. 

"There are immoderate existent fiscal consequences for some sides if it goes wrong. So I deliberation it's important that parents and students spell successful with their eyes open, knowing presumption of contracts earlier being signed."

Student loans, payday loans and lines of recognition should travel nether the aforesaid scrutiny, she said. 

"You're stealing from your aboriginal self. So you're stealing not lone the wealth that you're going to request to wage backmost successful the future, you're stealing adjacent much than that due to the fact that you'll person to wage the involvement connected apical of immoderate of these things."

Sollows said her champion proposal for young radical is to reward your aboriginal self. 

"I can't accent capable close now — time is connected your side. But with each time that passes, it's a small little connected your side. So enactment connected those habits, commencement redeeming present ... Start doing it present truthful that it is moving for you."