Could you pass a short quiz about mortgage basics?  Most people can't which is a bit frightening when you consider how many of them carry a mortgage that likely represents the biggest portion of their financial portfolio. 

In the recent federal budget, there is a proposal to start a financial literacy task force this spring.  Their job will be to make recommendations to finance minister Jim Flaherty on how best to equip Canadians to make more responsible financial decisions.

As Flaherty said in a speech last May, "We are graduating people who can design and build complex buildings and bridges, but cannot effectively manage their personal finances."

One of the companies that insures high-ratio mortgages in Canada has put an interesting little quiz up on their website. In a report last December, Genworth said that only 25 per cent of those surveyed correctly answered more than 7 out of 10 questions in the'mortgage quiz', and less than one per cent of respondents answered all 10 questions correctly.  Take the quiz.  How did you do?

P.S.  I'm relieved to report that I got a perfect score which it says qualifies me as an expert.  Whew.