Who's counting?

Most New Zealander's would not survive longer than three months in the face of a personal financial disaster, according to new research. 

Visa's 2012 International Financial Literacy Barometer surveyed more than 25,000 people across 28 countries. 

New Zealand was ranked the sixth most financially literate country, behind world leaders Brazil, Mexico and Australia. 

Our savings rate was well behind the Chinese, about half of whom have built up enough of a cash buffer to survive for six months. 

However we came out ahead of Pakistan, where just 13-14 per cent of respondents were able to endure a three-month financial calamity. 

One of the key findings of the survey was that earning a high income did not necessarily translate to good financial health. 

For example in Canada, Russia and Serbia high-income earners were less prepared to weather a crisis than their peers getting by on lower incomes. 

 

The survey also found that New Zealanders were pretty good at following a household budget, scoring 45.8 out of 100, and at talking to their kids about money (44.9). 

But our lack of faith in young people's ability to understand money management basics put us near the bottom of the table for that category, in 21st place. 

The survey found that the youngest and oldest individuals tended to be most at risk, with those aged 35-49 in the best financial position.

Source: Richard Meadows, Fairfax News