A lack of financial literacy in Maori, Pacific Islanders, and women is resulting in them being financially underprepared for their senior years, a University of Otago study has found.
The study, which complemented a 2020 survey from the New Zealand Financial Services Council, showed people with better education were more financially literate and more likely to have less debt anxiety and higher risk tolerance.
It found women in the 55-59 age bracket and individuals of Maori or Pacific Island ethnicity with lower educational attainment, lower incomes, and high family responsibility had significantly lower levels of financial literacy and were more vulnerable to financial struggles in their senior years.
The study’s author, Otago Business School Associate Professor Helen Roberts, said a lack of financial literacy saw people missing out on the ability to make positive financial decisions in their working years, resulting in tougher living conditions in their senior years.
Dunedin Debt Centre manager Jo Knowles said the demographics mentioned in the study were many of the people the centre helped through budgeting advice.
Older people who got to a stage where they needed help with money struggled to reach out, Mrs Knowles said.
‘‘Most of the people I’ve come across know they should be doing something but they don’t know how to get there or don’t want to.
‘‘I think it is a mixture of they don’t know where to get that help and the stigma of being older and getting help, because people think when you’re older you should have things sorted,’’ she said.
Mrs Knowles described it as ‘‘upsetting’’ to see older people struggling with their finances.
