Canadians and their governments seem to have forgotten that the more you learn, the more you earn

financialpost.com:

Many Canadians have tax situations that are straightforward, but their finances can become complex in a hurry if they become financially successful, have international connections or interests, are involved in estate planning or enter the world of entrepreneurship.

Notwithstanding, it’s been my experience that the level of financial literacy for most Canadians is extremely weak at all levels of complexity. Having a basic level of financial literacy is a must to navigate the complex society we live in, set yourself up for an eventual and comfortable retirement, and make better and informed decisions when voting for and choosing our country’s elected leaders.

I’m convinced that better choices at the ballot box would be made across the board — federal, provincial and municipal — with improved financial literacy.

I recently spoke at a professional event in Kelowna, B.C. The night before, I went down to the bar in my hotel to get a drink to bring up to my room. As I waited, I was standing next to a couple of barflies. One of them was rather young and the other was older.

The younger one said, “I think when your income and wealth is $50 million or more, the tax rate should be 100 per cent. I mean, $50 million sounds like a good number … no one will be able to spend that amount in their lifetime.” The older fellow responded, “I agree, but I think that 100 per cent tax rate should be restricted to capital gains.” The younger one agreed to that idea.

I found myself very torn, as I often do in situations such as these, as to whether I should try to help these fellows make sense of their nonsensical opinions. One of my missions in life is to plant acorns in the area of tax and financial literacy. Such acorns can grow into the