What does financial wellbeing mean to you? Is it:

• Knowing when/how I will repay my education debt
• Being able to afford to have an overseas holiday every few years
• Having a regular and stable income
• Exciting adventures
• My own home
• Financial security in retirement
• Building wealth
• Starting up my own business
• Something else?

Read this comment from a 29 year old woman:

“Financial stress is something that causes a lot of anxiety in my life and I know a lot of my friends feel the same way. There are lots of decisions to make about things like saving, superannuation, how to apply for a mortgage, should you be investing – but we’re not really taught how to do that. It does create a feeling of anxiety and a feeling of being out of control with your finances”

Laura (29) Sydney Morning Herald, Monday March 7, 2016

Now read this comment from a 19 year old:

“Money is part of teenage life. Sooner or later you’re gonna have to go into the adult world and you have to learn how to deal with it.”

Young People and Money Program Participant, UK

How do you feel about managing your money? About your financial situation?

Case study: Money attitudes  

Read about the range of money attitudes in this fictional family and discuss:

Two Olave sisters Lucy and Megan have two very different sets of money attitudes, even though they had the same childhood experience. Lucy and Megan grew up on a farm. There were some times when their Dad worked as a fly-in-fly-out worker at a mine far from home. This placed pressure on the family, but provided a measure of financial security. Mum and Dad’s income varied over the years, with changes in work, droughts and farm produce prices. The family have had some years of wealth and some of hardship. Lucy and Megan remember great holidays but also times when their parents struggled to pay for their school uniforms.

Lucy has a part time job, is very frugal with her money and saves as much as she can. She tends to only spend when there is no alternative and has more than 6 times her average weekly income in savings.

Megan has a casual job with irregular income, and occasionally has very busy and profitable weeks. She tends to spend what she has as it comes in. She prefers to focus on what she can do now, and doesn’t worry too much about the future.

• What money attitudes can you identify in the family members?
• What financial behaviours are linked to the money attitudes you have identified? (Some examples of financial behaviours are planning ahead, saving for a rainy day, keeping track of your money)

Understanding your own money attitudes can help you to take control of your money decisions.

Take this short quiz about money attitudes and behaviours, by answering Agree or Disagree to each statement and tallying your score according to the instructions below.

1. It is important to plan your spending each week to make sure you have enough money for everything you need
2. If you won $5000 in the lottery, you would spend it on a shopping spree with family and friends
3. It is too hard to keep track of expenses when bills all come at different times – monthly, quarterly, and/or annually
4. It doesn’t matter if you don’t pay your bills
5. When you’ve had a tough day, shopping lifts your mood
6. Payday loans are a good idea
7. It is better to save up for something you want than to borrow money
8. It is important to have a regular savings plan
9. Checking the entries on your credit card or bank account statement is not important
10. It is easy to shop around for the best deal on a credit card
11. You get worried if you can’t buy something you want as soon as you see it
12. Always knowing how much debt you have is a waste of time
13. You regularly overspend
14. It is easier to spend money on a credit card than using cash
15. Your bank account is rarely running on empty
16. You live from week to week and pay your bills on time but usually by the day before payday, there is nothing left in your bank account.

Scoring instructions

Start with 10 points in your Quiz ‘Bank’.

For questions 1, 7, 8, 10, 15, add 1 point for every question to which you answered Agree; add 0 points if you answered Disagree.

For questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16  – deduct 1 point for every question to which you answered Agree; deduct 0 points if you answered Disagree.

Your answers may give you insight into your money attitudes and how they affect your financial behaviour. Do you have 5 or less points in your Quiz Bank? What do you think this might mean for you?

Have a chat about your money attitudes:

• Where do you think your attitudes to money have come from?
• Have you changed your attitudes over time? If so, why?

Are there any attitudes that you have discovered that you want to change? If so, why?

Research tells us that women face distinct challenges when it comes to their financial wellbeing.

Watch this short video to find out what people on the street say are the financial challenges women face and have a quick chat about these opinions. What is your experience? What is the experience of women you know?

Video: Women and money

If you are financially independent, this ASIC Money Health Check can help you to appreciate what topics you could learn more about for your own financial wellbeing. It asks easy questions on your personal finances, and will give you a report on your money health and suggest some steps to improve your finances:

If you are supported by others financially and have limited financial obligations, here are some questions that can help you to consider how you can use this time to prepare well for a financially independent future:

• How much income do you have? What expenses do you have? What is the difference between these?
• Do you expect to have any lifestyle changes in the next year? 2 years?
• What if any major expenses do you expect to have in the next year? 2 years?
• Can you prepare for these expenses in advance?