Abstract

During the last two decades financial education has become more and more important due to a large variety of economic and demographic changes. It is commonly considered an essential tool for consumer empowerment and a critical prerequisite for sound, efficient and transparent financial markets. Research on financial literacy may be classified into two main areas: tests of financial literacy among different population groups and evaluations of the effectiveness of financial education programs. Recent survey results reveal that the vast majority of the Italian population lack basic financial knowledge. Our research consists of a questionnaire administered to high school students, university students and adults. The goals are 1) to assess their level of financial literacy and capability; 2) to highlight any differences among different clusters in terms of financial knowledge, financial wisdom and attention to financial matters. Our findings indicate that university students generally have a higher level of financial technical knowledge than high school students and that adults have more judiciousness than younger people in day-to-day money management and in investment decision.