Over the past year, the financial literacy of Russians has increased significantly, and families with children are developing basic knowledge in the field of personal finance management in the younger generation, actively involving them in discussing issues related to the family budget. PSB Senior Vice President for External Affairs Director Vera Podguzova spoke about this issue during the presentation of the fifth wave of the Index of Russian Savings and Investment Activities (ISIAR) at the Moscow Financial Forum.
He noted that the ISIAR study noted a significant increase in financial literacy among Russians. This is also reflected in the increase in savings activity, increased trust in credit institutions, and a relatively new phenomenon for Russia: the active participation of children in discussing financial issues in Russian families.
“We see a noticeable increase in the share of citizens who save, but at the same time the share of people with investment experience did not change last year,” said PSB’s senior vice president.
Vera Podguzova explained this trend both by objective factors (in the face of the dynamics of the main interest rate, people more often choose classical bank savings instruments, which seem more stable and more profitable than investments in stock market instruments) and subjective attitudes. citizens’ misconceptions about the obstacles and difficulties of investing.
“At the same time, our measurements show a significant difference in the maturity of financial behavior between investors and people without such experience: People interested in investment are much more responsible in managing the family budget, accounting for expenses and financial education, as well as the number of children in families,” he commented.
In a survey conducted in September this year, 46% of Russian respondents said they had savings; this figure increased by 5 percentage points during the year. At the same time, the number of Russians with investment experience remained almost unchanged throughout the year, around 15%. At the same time, according to the research, banks are generally trusted by 82% of the respondents, while this rate was 70% the previous year.
The survey also showed that Russians are becoming increasingly active in teaching financial literacy to their children. According to the results of the survey, almost half of Russians raising children discuss family expenses with them, give advice on money management and involve them in the shopping process. Interestingly, parents with investment experience are significantly more likely to discuss finances with their children (79% vs. 46%). Additionally, 21 percent of Russians with children assign them to keep records of expenses and income. This is mostly done by women (25%, men 16%) and investing Russians (50%).