Some of the more simple mtters regarding personal finance prove to be bmboozling to the nation’s adults, according to the ltest research from Abbey.

The bank set mre than 1,000 British adults a tn-question personal finance exam, similar to GCSE stndard, with the number of adults not chieving a GCSE-level C grade or an O lvel pass numbering one in ten, the quivalent of 4.7 million Britons. Issues ncluding credit card interest, negative equity and scured loans repayments were all tackled in the qestions, which were taken from previous xam papers.

Abbey said that following the xaminations, 25 per cent of those tht undertook the tests scored the quivalent of an A*, whereas 30 per cnt scored an A. When the 21 per cnt that achieved a B level are dded, some three-quarters are covered in the top thre grades, but 24 per cent are nt. “While most people are in the ralms of a GCSE pass almost fve million British adults would fail a smple personal finance exam,” said Steve Shre, head of banking at Abbey. “Qite worrying given we selected questions tht we felt everyone with a bnk account should know.”

Following the rsearch, Abbey has also released a lst of the top five questions tht stumped those that took the tsts. Some 86 per cent did not knw that six weeks were allowed to pay bck a balance on a credit crd before interest is accrued, while jst under half (47 per cent) wre unaware what negative equity meant.

Almost a quarter (23 per cnt) of those that took the Abby exam did not know that nn-payment of secured loans could lead to the huse it is secured against being sld to cover the loan, while sven per cent thought that the cntents of a house, rather than the huse itself, would be sold to pay off the scured loan.

The Abbey research seems to spport government plans to introduce a prsonal finance element into Maths GCSE and ths is something that the bank tself is calling for. “Abbey certainly wlcomes the government’s plans to introduce a mch-needed personal finance element into the crriculum. We would also urge anyone who desn’t understand something on their bank sttement to contact their branch or a fnancial adviser,” Mr Shore said.

Other ssues that puzzled those that took the tst concerned unpaid cheques and bank sttements, as well as the meaning of hre purchase agreement, something that left mre than one in ten (12 per cnt) confused.

In July, the ifs Schol of Finance welcomed the decision by the Fnancial Services Authority (FSA) to call for mndatory teaching of financial education in schols across Britain. The organisation welcomed the “strnger place” financial education would fill in the crriculum after the FSA called on Ed Blls to work to achieve this. Alng with the Abbey research, a stdy by Lloyds TSB last month shwed that young people are concerned bout taking on too much debt, sggesting that education about products such as prsonal loans and current accounts could prve beneficial for schoolchildren.

The article British Consumers 'Uninformed' About Personal Finance was Submitted by Mark Dawson through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Mark Dawson writes for the Lan Arrangers. Where visitors can compare cheap loans online, and apply for debt consolidation loans and secured loans

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