Do you understand the meaning of financial terms such as “inflation”? If so you’re in the minority, according to research by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The study revealed that only 38% of UK adults knew what the word “inflation” meant. The same study also discovered that just 69% put careful consideration into making major purchases.
This overall lack of financial literacy is bad news for the UK – putting us at the back of the pack behind the likes of Estonia, Latvia and 14 other nations when it comes to financial knowledge. With the world still reeling from the impact of a global recession and living costs rising, it’s more important than ever that adults have a solid grasp of the basics of personal financial – things like debt, interest and investments.
Hoping to address this worrying knowledge gap is True Potential Investor, working in partnership with the Open University.
Part of the Open University Business School, The True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance (PUFin) aims to develop financial knowledge on a general and personal level.
True Potential Investor invested £1.4 million into the True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance for research and to establish a series of free personal finance courses, including Managing My Money, Managing My Investments and Managing My Financial Journey. Together, the courses improve the core areas of personal finance, investments and financial service providers.
The newest course to be made available is Finance Fundamentals: Financial Planning and Budgeting, which highlights financial attitudes in our current economy and how to change bad habits. It has been designed to help households make better decisions with their money.
The modules can be accessed online through the FutureLearn educational platform and the Open University’s OpenLearn platform, meaning the courses are flexible enough to fit into even the busiest lifestyles.
To date, the courses have attracted some 200,000 sign-ups, underlining just how in-demand this type of financial knowledge is in the UK and the sheer scale of the knowledge gap.
Visit the True Potential Investor website to learn more about the free finance courses and to sign up.