The United Kingdom has a financial literacy problem that can severely impact our ability to save and invest our way towards achieving our financial goals. But what can we do to improve our knowledge of how to build our wealth?
According to a recent survey, as many as 23 million Britons have been found to possess low levels of financial literacy. This means that a large proportion of the country struggles with their understanding of how to effectively invest their money.
Worryingly, a survey conducted by True Potential found that 52% of 10 to 24-year-olds admitted to feeling confused about financial matters either some or a lot of the time and 79% claimed that higher numeracy skills would positively impact their ability to manage personal finances.
But what is financial literacy? And how can it help us to improve our investment struggles? Let’s take a deeper look into a key problem with UK wealth management:
What is Financial Literacy?
Financial literacy is the ability to understand and use different financial skills. The topic covers different areas like personal financial management, budgeting, and investing. It also features an emphasis on core financial principles like the time value of money, compound interest, managing debt, and financial planning.
With just 31% of UK investors aware of capital gains tax (CGT) changes moving into the 2024/2025 financial year, it’s clear that there’s a widespread lack of awareness that’s impacting our financial health.
Financial literacy means building an awareness of tax deadlines, as well as a fundamental knowledge of how to make taxation more efficient throughout your investing strategy.
Crucially, achieving a level of financial literacy can help investors avoid making preventable errors, and building an educated financial perspective on these topics can help more UK adults achieve their financial goals while spotting unethical or scam practices.
How to Improve Your Financial Literacy
If you’re worried that your financial literacy isn’t as strong as you would like, don’t worry, you’re not alone. The House of Lords has acknowledged concerns about inadequate levels of financial education in UK schools.
Some 73% of UK adults have claimed that they received no education on money during their time at school, while 68% suggested that they would have benefited from it.
This means that we’re seeing more adults turn to improving their financial literacy later in life, and thanks to innovations in fintech and access to learning resources, it’s becoming easier than ever to grow your knowledge about important financial mechanisms like investing and wealth management.
So what are your best options to improve your financial literacy? Let’s take a look at some easy measures to help you brush up on your competencies:
- Financial Newsletters Provide Fresh Insights
While it can be a little tricky to access free and impartial financial insights online, many quality newsletters provide you with plenty of expert insights into current events and personal finance trends.
Newsletters like Wall Street Breakfast, The Average Joe, Benzinga Options, and Robinhood Snacks all offer free industry insights and can open the door to many standardised practices for investors.
Additionally, signing up to financial podcasts to listen to during your downtime can be a great way of accessing fresh perspectives and actionable advice for free regularly.
- Embrace Financial Management Tools
The great thing about fintech is that it’s growing at a rapid pace, and opening the door to brand new financial management tools in the process.
By attaching financial management tools to your accounts like a savings account, credit card, or mortgage, you can gain bespoke and actionable insights into how to improve your financial strategies to help achieve your goals.
Some free tools like are good free resources, while challenger banks like Revolut have incorporated open banking tools into their platform to generate bespoke behavioural insights based on how you use your accounts.
Another subset of financial management tools is comparison sites like GoCompare, MoneySupermarket, Moneysavingexpert, and Experlu, all of which can help you to compare and contrast your options before opening an account, taking out a loan, or signing up for just about any other financial service.
- Speak to a Professional
Seeking the help of a professional financial advisor can be a great asset no matter the level of your financial literacy, and their ability to draw on their experiences to answer your questions can be perfect for improving your comprehension of even the most complex industry mechanics.
Whether you need help learning about day-to-day money situations or long-term investment strategies, qualified advisors will be capable of helping you understand the ideal path toward achieving your financial goals. However, be wary that some may be incentivised to sell you a product or service, so it’s worth keeping a critical mind.
Never Stop Learning
The economic landscape is constantly changing, and this directly impacts our access to financial tools. With this in mind, our journey through financial learning is never complete.
Be sure to adopt a proactive mindset when it comes to learning about financial processes close to your long-term saving goals, it can pay dividends later down the line.
