InvestNow Customer Survey Finds ‘overwhelming’ Support For Compulsory Financial Literacy In Schools

Online investment platform, InvestNow, shows support for making it compulsory to teach financial literacy in schools.

“We wholeheartedly believe that people should have the knowledge and ability to make good personal financial decisions” says Mike Heath, InvestNow General Manager

InvestNow surveyed the 26,000 investors using the platform to see how they felt about the initiative. Of those that responded, an overwhelming 93 per cent said they supported it.

Heath said the strong vote in favour of compulsory financial education for all school children suggests the issue carries weight across the political spectrum.

“InvestNow services a diverse range of clients, spanning different ages, genders, investment preferences, assets under management and, undoubtedly, political allegiances,” Heath says. “To see such overwhelming agreement on any issue is rare from such a disparate group of Kiwis, but clearly financial literacy has touched on a nerve.”

Some of those surveyed said the education system needed to step into the financial literacy void as many parents did not have the time or ability to teach good money habits to their children.

He says more than 90 per cent of respondents also expressed concern about the ability of young people to ‘make sound financial decisions’ given their lack of grounding in the subject.

For example, one of the InvestNow members in the survey commented:

“Young people are now more exposed to consumerism and choice when it comes to purchasing items (TikTok, social media, etc), and a constant desire for instant gratification that gets stronger. Statistics show that Gen Z is struggling in particular to manage debt from buy-now-pay-later products. This will only get bigger as a problem, as they are exposed to more choice but not given the tools to navigate finances.”

Furthermore, about three-quarters of respondents said they would likely have been better-off now if compulsory financial literacy had been in place during their school years.

“I would have understood the impact of saving and investing money as a teen/early 20s,” another respondent said. “I cringe at the amount of money I've retrospectively ‘lost’ by not saving and investing more of my money beyond KiwiSaver. I wouldn't have had to teach myself all the things I know now.”

Heath says the fact that 75 per cent of those surveyed – many of whom are now seasoned investors – regret the lack of early financial education is telling.

“But it’s also encouraging to see the demand for financial knowledge and improvement in investing habits is rising through all generations,” he says. “That’s why InvestNow is committed to equipping investors with education, fund materials and online tools to help them make better financial decisions.”

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