Financial literacy way out of poverty

Teaching financial literacy at schools would help Kiwis stay out of debt in their adult years, a Rotorua financial adviser says.

The comments follow an OECD report that's found Kiwi teenagers have above average financial literacy, but students from poorer backgrounds are likely to be less money savvy than their richer peers.

The OECD PISA study measures the capabilities of 15-year-olds in maths, reading and science every three years across 65 countries.

In 2012 New Zealand was one of 18 countries to take part in a financial literacy assessment, which targeted managing money, setting goals and managing risk.

On average, the 957 Kiwi students who participated scored 520 points - above the average score of 500.

Even so, Rotorua financial adviser Tom Davies said he spent a lot of his time educating adults about their finances.

"It would be great if we could start that learning process much earlier.

"My view is we need to teach financial literacy in schools. It probably needs to be in the syllabus in some way as a skill-set that will help grow the wealth of New Zealanders."

Financial education was crucially important, and most Kiwis didn't consider options outside of putting money into their home, he said.

KiwiSaver had been an important step to developing literacy.

The most common way we found ourselves trapped in debt was simply spending more than we earned, Mr Davies said.

The report found the relationship between New Zealand students' socio-economic background and financial literacy performance was the strongest among participating countries.

Kiwi teens in the bottom quarter of an index measuring economic, social and cultural status scored 459 points compared to 585 points for those in the top quarter.

Maori students scored on average 466 points and Pasifika students 424.

Students with an immigrant background also had lower scores as did those who spoke a language other than English at home.

Massey University's Fin-Ed Centre director Pushpa Wood said we needed to rethink our approach to teaching financial literacy "if we are to break the poverty cycle as the majority of students with only basic skills come from low socio-economic backgrounds".

Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell said, "Financial literacy is an essential life skill and embedding it in the school curriculum makes absolute sense. We want young people to leave school equipped to make good decisions about money from an early age."

Secondary Principal's Association president Tom Parsons said there wasn't room to add financial literacy to the curriculum as a subject. But practical examples taught in maths class could improve financial understanding.

"Financial literacy is numeracy. If we teach it early enough that's the key that unlocks financial literacy. It covers so many things - student loans, DPB, budgeting, insurance, mortgages."