For planners seeking talking points with Canadian parents, a pair of surveys conducted by different financial institutions recently, show that parents believe it is their duty to pay for their kid’s education and frequently worry about the financial knowledge their children have.

The first survey, conducted earlier this year by Léger and Embark Student Corp., found that 61 per cent of parents surveyed would put off their retirement in order to help their children pay for their post-secondary education, while 52 per cent said they would go in debt for their child’s education, as well.

Overall, 81 per cent of the 1,000 parents surveyed said they believed it was their duty to help their child pay for an education; 69 per cent said they did not believe their child would be able to afford an education without help. A significant number, 61 per cent, said the thought of education savings was at times overwhelming. Notably, the survey uncovered another education opportunity for a lot of planners: the majority of those surveyed did not know about the existence of grants like the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) or the Canada Learning Bond.

At TD Bank Group, meanwhile, a later survey of 1,008 Canadian parents found that 58 per cent frequently worry about their child’s financial future.

This survey focuses on another education opportunity: 89 per cent of the parents surveyed agreed they would feel more confident if their child had improved financial knowledge before their teenage years; 70 per cent said they don’t feel prepared to support their children’s financial literacy at home. Just 29 per cent said they discuss finances with their children weekly.