Following the collapse of about 20 New Zealand investment companies last year, many families lost large amounts of their life savings.
They also lost a lot of confidence in the finance sector, she said.
"2009 was really tough for lots of people, and some learnt things about managing their money that they will take into this year.
"We hope it won't be so hard this year, but it is going to take some families a while to recover."
Ms Crossan has been Retirement Commissioner since 2003 and her contract was renewed this month.
During the next three years, she plans to dedicate much of her time to providing these families with useful information and tips for managing their money.
Families were at the front of her mind recently, when she was in Dunedin to celebrate a family wedding.
Other groups needing financial education were young adults and the elderly, particularly Maori, she said.
"Eighteen to 24-year-olds are hard to reach. I also want to focus on the 60-plus age group because they are the people who lost a lot of money in the last two years, when finance companies fell over.
"These people need to rethink their long-term management of their finances."
Ms Crossan said 2010 would be a busy year for her.
She will launch another major review of retirement income policies and practices, which happens every three years.
"The review will take a medium to long-term look at whether we have the right long-term savings products [like KiwiSaver]; whether we are going to be financially ready for retirement; and, in particular, will women be prepared for retirement?"
Around the Western world, older women are most at risk of not having the reserves to retire.
Women are just one of many groups of people in society to be looked at."
The review would also investigate regulations around financial advisers, their products, and how well we were financially educated.
