Learn the basics of personal finance, with financial watchdogs help
26/06/2002
If youve ever wished you understood more about how money matters work but didnt know who to ask or where to find answers in language you could understand, help is at hand from the Financial Services Authority, the independent financial watchdog.
FSA Learn Online is a new interactive web-based service from the Financial Services Authority, designed to help consumers learn the basics of personal finance. It provides a comprehensive introduction to financial services and products, covering three sections:
how to work out what you might need;
the different types of financial products that are available, from borrowing to insurance, saving, investment and pensions; and
questions to ask before buying.
The programme will help you get to grips with the concepts underlying financial products. It doesnt promote named products or tell you that one companys product is better than anothers. At the end of each topic there is an opportunity for you to test yourself so that you can make sure you have understood what you have read.
Deborah Arnott, FSA Head of Consumer Education Services said:
"Part of our job as the independent financial watchdog is to increase public understanding of the financial system. Weve developed an ongoing programme of consumer education to help us achieve this.
Our new resource, Learn Online, does not replace professional financial advice. The key objective is to help young people and adults become questioning and informed consumers of financial services and manage their finances effectively."
Learn Online can be found by clicking on the new Teaching and Learning section of the Consumer Help website www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer and then clicking on Resources for Adults. A range of other FSA resources for teachers and parents is also available in the Teaching and Learning section.
Notes for editors
Developing money management skills through personal finance education plays a key part in preparing young people for adult and working life. Many primary schools cover personal finance through numeracy. Secondary schools build on this by developing financial capability among young people through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) programmes and through subjects such as mathematics, business and economics. A further boost will be given when Citizenship becomes a statutory part of the curriculum for all 11-16 year olds in schools in England.
The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000; maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; securing the appropriate degree of protection of consumers; and fighting financial crime.
The FSA aims to maintain efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and help retail consumers achieve a fair deal.