A notable proportion of Australians are not financially literate, with the younger generations lacking the most knowledge.
These are the findings of a survey of 1,000 people by Canstar, one of Australia’s best-known and respected comparison websites. People surveyed were asked to take up a quiz that consisted of 21 questions to assess people’s level of understanding about financial products, such as home loans, credit cards, energy bills, the NBN or bank accounts.
Effie Zahos, Canstar’s Editor-at-Large, said although the majority of Australians consider themselves financially literate (60 percent), nearly half of them (46 percent) did not pass the test.
She noted that the result is worrying, with the average score being 11 out of 21. Zahos said what’s surprising is that although women often take control of the household bills, males were doing better than females, with 66 percent of men passing the quiz compared to 42 parent of females….