{"id":366250,"date":"2026-01-12T14:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/366250\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T14:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:35:12","slug":"almost-70-of-young-adults-struggle-to-grasp-basic-financial-concepts-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/366250\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost 70% of young adults \u2018struggle to grasp basic financial concepts\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than a third of Irish adults struggle to grasp basic financial concepts, rising to almost 70 per cent of those aged 18 to 24, a survey suggests. <\/p>\n

The survey of 1,000 adults on their understanding of topics, including pensions<\/a>, tax<\/a> relief, insurance<\/a> and the State pension, found substantial gaps in people\u2019s knowledge. <\/p>\n

Although 65 per cent achieved a basic passing grade, only 3 per cent answered all nine questions correctly. <\/p>\n

Just one in five men and one in eight women achieved an A or B grade. While the latter were slightly more likely to pass overall (66 per cent versus 63 per cent), men were more likely to achieve top grades, with 10 per cent scoring an A, compared to 6 per cent of women.<\/p>\n

Commissioned by NFP Ireland, a financial services firm, the survey highlighted how financial knowledge increased with age, likely as people encounter decisions around mortgages<\/a>, pensions and insurance firsthand. <\/p>\n

A total of 68 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds failed the test while no one in that age group achieved an A grade. By contrast, only a quarter of over-55s failed. Almost one in 10 over-45s scored top marks<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t school \u2013 people hadn\u2019t prepared for this survey,\u201d NFP\u2019s Sarah McGurrin said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the research is important in understanding where people are starting from in terms of financial literacy, and for taking action to ensure they have the tools and knowledge needed to make informed financial decisions, no matter their age or stage of life\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said although most people answered \u201ca decent chunk of the questions correctly\u201d the survey suggested that \u201cfinancial confidence and clarity still feels out of reach for many, especially when it comes to products like pensions and protection\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that shouldn\u2019t be ignored \u2013 knowledge is power, and the lack of it can have serious consequences for people\u2019s financial wellbeing,\u201d Ms McGurrin said.<\/p>\n

She said financial understanding should not be something people only gained through experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cYounger adults are making big choices too \u2013 from setting up pensions and managing loans to taking on one of the biggest financial contracts they\u2019ll ever sign: a mortgage. And too many are doing so without a solid grounding. That\u2019s something we can and should change,\u201d Ms McGurrin said.<\/p>\n

The survey included nine questions on practical, real-world financial topics. While some concepts were well understood, others caused confusion.<\/p>\n

She said the level of confusion about financial products \u201cunderlines why employers and policymakers need to continue working to demystify financial language and bring education into real-world settings\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t expect everyone to be financial experts,\u201d Ms McGurrin said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut a basic foundation \u2013 the kind that helps you ask the right questions and avoid costly mistakes \u2013 should be accessible to everyone. Financial wellbeing starts with financial confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than a third of Irish adults struggle to grasp basic financial concepts, rising to almost 70 per…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,1349,25949,5107,4174,4175,474,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-366250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-insurance","11":"tag-mortgages","12":"tag-pension","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance","15":"tag-tax","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}