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Some of the more simple m tters regarding personal finance prove to be b mboozling to the nation’s adults, according to the l test research from Abbey. The bank set m re than 1,000 British adults a t n-question personal finance exam, similar to GCSE st ndard, with the number of adults not chieving a GCSE-level C grade or an O l vel pass numbering one in ten, the quivalent of 4.7 million Britons. Issues ncluding credit card interest, negative equity and s cured loans repayments were all tackled in the q estions, which were taken from previous xam papers. Abbey said that following the xaminations, 25 per cent of those th t undertook the tests scored the quivalent of an A*, whereas 30 per c nt scored an A. When the 21 per c nt that achieved a B level are dded, some three-quarters are covered in the top thr e grades, but 24 per cent are n t. “While most people are in the r alms of a GCSE pass almost f ve million British adults would fail a s mple personal finance exam,” said Steve Sh re, head of banking at Abbey. “Q ite worrying given we selected questions th t we felt everyone with a b nk account should know.” Following the r search, Abbey has also released a l st of the top five questions th t stumped those that took the t sts. Some 86 per cent did not kn w that six weeks were allowed to pay b ck a balance on a credit c rd before interest is accrued, while j st under half (47 per cent) w re unaware what negative equity meant.
Almost a quarter (23 per c nt) of those that took the Abb y exam did not know that n n-payment of secured loans could lead to the h use it is secured against being s ld to cover the loan, while s ven per cent thought that the c ntents of a house, rather than the h use itself, would be sold to pay off the s cured loan. The Abbey research seems to s pport government plans to introduce a p rsonal finance element into Maths GCSE and th s is something that the bank tself is calling for. “Abbey certainly w lcomes the government’s plans to introduce a m ch-needed personal finance element into the c rriculum. We would also urge anyone who d esn’t understand something on their bank st tement to contact their branch or a f nancial adviser,” Mr Shore said. Other ssues that puzzled those that took the t st concerned unpaid cheques and bank st tements, as well as the meaning of h re purchase agreement, something that left m re than one in ten (12 per c nt) confused. In July, the ifs Sch ol of Finance welcomed the decision by the F nancial Services Authority (FSA) to call for m ndatory teaching of financial education in sch ols across Britain. The organisation welcomed the “str nger place” financial education would fill in the c rriculum after the FSA called on Ed B lls to work to achieve this. Al ng with the Abbey research, a st dy by Lloyds TSB last month sh wed that young people are concerned bout taking on too much debt, s ggesting that education about products such as p rsonal loans and current accounts could pr ve 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 L an Arrangers. Where visitors can compare cheap loans online, and apply for debt consolidation loans and secured loans
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