Why?

Gender insurance gap revealed.

Women are more likely to take out home, car and health insurance while men are more likely to opt for life and pet cover,according to research by Australian life insurer TAL.

Its research found 41% of men have a life policy, compared to 33% of women. That includes disability, income protection, trauma and life insurance.

Both men and women were more likely to insure their home and car than their life and income.

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Everyday Money

From my favourite economist,

"England is the only country in the developed world where the generation approaching retirement is more literate and numerate than the youngest adults, according to the first skills survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.In a stark assessment of the success and failure of the 720-million-strong adult workforce across the wealthier economies, the economic think tank warns that in England, adults aged 55 to 65 perform better than 16- to 24-year-olds at foundation levels of literacy and numeracy. The survey did not include people from Scotland or Wales. The OECD study also finds that a quarter of adults in England have the maths skills of a 10-year-old. About 8.5 million adults, 24.1% of the population, have such basic levels of numeracy that they can manage only one-step tasks in arithmetic, sorting numbers or reading graphs. This is worse than the average in the developed world, where an average of 19% of people were found to have a similarly poor skill base. When the results within age groups are compared across participating countries, older adults in England score higher in literacy and numeracy than the average among their peers, while younger adults show some of the lowest scores for their age group."

I'm willing to bet it ain't too different here!

Source: Eye2theLongRun

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Musings and Amusings

"EVEN if we grade on a very generous curve, many Americans flunk when it comes to financial literacy. Consider this three-item quiz: 

• Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 percent a year. After five years, how much do you think you would have if you left the money to grow? More than $102, exactly $102 or less than $102? 

• Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 percent a year and that inflation was 2 percent. After one year, would you be able to buy more than, the same as or less than you could today with the money? 

• Do you think this statement is true or false: “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund”? 

Anyone with even a basic understanding of compound interest, inflation and diversification should know that the answers to these questions are “more than,” “less than” and “false.” Yet in a survey of Americans over age 50 conducted by the economists Annamaria Lusardi of George Washington University and Olivia S. Mitchell of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, only a third could answer all three questions correctly. 

This is particularly troubling given the inherent complexity of our modern economy. Whether in taking out a student loan, buying a house or saving for retirement, people are being asked to make decisions that are difficult even if they have graduate training in finance and economics. Throwing the financially illiterate into that maelstrom is like taking students currently enrolled in driver’s education and asking them to compete in the Indianapolis 500."

A similar story to that of the UK!

Source: NY Times

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Womenomics

When will this change?

"Boys earn, learn more when it comes to cash.

The Westpac Kids and Money Report released yesterday morning found boys receive $12.50 per week in pocket money versus $9.80 for girls for 2.4 hours of housework, and the gender divide extended to what work they did.

Boys were more likely to take out the rubbish, mow the lawns and clean the car while girls tended to do the dishes, laundry and clean bedrooms."

And I wrote about this in 2005 in Girls Just Want to Have Fund$!

Source: The Press

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Finance & Investment

Don't think we will be investing this credit union any time soon:

"A credit union offering "Loans For Ladies" and encouraging women to go on shopping sprees and have makeovers has sparked fury on social media from the company's target demographic.

Customer-owned credit union NZCU Baywide launched a website called Loans For Ladies just over a month ago, encouraging women to borrow any amount from $1000 to $50,000 for "an all-day makeover, a shopping spree, or that second car you've always dreamt of - anything goes honey!"

Sprinkled among the retro-style imagery and garish colour scheme are inspirational messages such as: "Cinderella is proof a pair of shoes can change your life."

The website also carried fake - or, as the company initially called them, "indicative" - testimonials, from the likes of ‘Frankie Olson': "I got a loan for [sic] Loans For Ladies and got nipped and tucked from ear to ear. I feel like a million dollars."

Angry women took to social media to voice their disapproval soon after. "I want to use Loans For Ladies but it looks so complicated. Maybe if I get a man to explain the big words to me," tweeted Alessandra Rachael.

"I don't think you've used quite enough pink on your website, or nearly enough images of impossibly high-heeled shoes," said Facebook user Lisa Cullimore Ryder. "When it comes to misogyny though, it's two thumbs up!"

Interestingly "most applicants for Loans For Ladies had been turned down because of strict lending criteria. The approval rate was around "six or seven per cent". He said it was better to borrow from a credit union than to be "ripped off" by finance companies."

Source: stuff.co.nz

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