Those with less financial knowledge most likely to overrate their investing skills: survey

'2026 Financial Education Survey'

35.7% of those in their 30s, 35.6% in their 20s confident in investment knowledge

20s show lowest rate of top-tier financial literacy

Share of adults who received financial education in past 3 years falls to 13.6%

Investors trust economic media most for information

Only 13.6 percent of Korean adults received financial education in the past three years, yet those with the least financial knowledge were the most likely to overestimate their stock investment skills, a new survey shows. Confidence in investment knowledge was particularly high among adults in their 20s and 30s, and seven in 10 respondents said they had never had the opportunity to receive financial education at all.

According to the "2026 Financial Education Survey" conducted by the Korea Financial Consumer Protection Foundation, 29.7 percent of the 3,000 adults surveyed — men and women aged 19 to 69 living in Seoul, the greater metropolitan area and six major regional cities — said their stock investment knowledge was above average. Among respondents with low financial literacy, however, that figure rose to 35.5 percent, some 7.2 percentage points above the 28.3 percent recorded among those with high financial literacy.

The foundation said the findings suggest that people with limited financial knowledge tend to overestimate their stock investment abilities. Financial literacy levels in the survey were classified as high, medium or low based on the number of correct answers to seven questions covering interest calculations, inflation and diversified investing.

By age group, 35.7 percent of respondents in their 30s and 35.6 percent of those in their 20s rated their stock investment knowledge as above average — higher than the 29.7 percent among those in their 40s, 29.0 percent among those in their 50s and 20.4 percent among those in their 60s. Adults in their 20s had the lowest share of top-tier financial literacy of any age group at 45.5 percent, yet ranked second highest in self-assessed investment knowledge.

Lower financial literacy was also associated with greater reliance on social media for financial information. Among respondents in the low-literacy group, 10.3 percent obtained financial information through social media, nearly double the 5.4 percent among the high-literacy group. Use of online communities and web portals also differed, at 11.8 percent and 7.6 percent respectively. The foundation said those with lower financial literacy tend to rely more heavily on unverified, informal sources of information.

More than half of all respondents — 55.3 percent — said they currently invest in stocks. Video platforms were the most commonly used source of investment information at 19.9 percent, but when asked which source they trusted most, 22.0 percent named specialized economic media outlets, the highest of any category.

The share of adults who have received financial education has fallen for two consecutive years. The proportion reporting financial education within the past three years dropped from 16.2 percent in 2024 to 14.1 percent last year and 13.6 percent this year. Some 71.4 percent of all respondents said they had never had the opportunity to receive such education. Among the 15.0 percent who had the opportunity but did not participate, the most commonly cited reasons were a lack of time and concerns that sessions would be used to promote or sell products from specific financial companies.

A separate survey also pointed to declining financial literacy among Korean adults. The "2024 National Financial Literacy Survey," published in April last year by the Bank of Korea and the Financial Supervisory Service, found that the financial literacy score of adults aged 18 to 79 fell to 65.7 points from 66.5 points in 2022, based on responses from 2,400 adults. The financial knowledge sub-score also dropped 1.9 points to 73.6. Adults in their 20s and 70s recorded relatively low scores.

Even among those who did receive financial education, satisfaction varied by literacy level. While 89.2 percent of all respondents said they were satisfied with the education they received, that figure was limited to 81.0 percent among the low-literacy group. Satisfaction with stock investment lectures and seminars was also lower in that group, at 60.0 percent compared with the overall average of 69.1 percent.

When asked which type of institution they would prefer for future financial education, 50.9 percent of respondents chose public institutions. In terms of format, 54.8 percent preferred online education, compared with 32.5 percent who favored in-person sessions.

The foundation said people with limited financial knowledge may not recognize their own need for education. It recommended introducing self-assessment tools into financial education programs so participants can gauge their own literacy levels, and called for expanding access to education while developing content tailored to different levels of understanding.

snsd@heraldcorp.com