More Results From The 3rd Citi Fin-q Survey

EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL 00.01 FRIDAY 15 JANUARY

Australians' Scorecard Needs Improvement
More results from the third annual Citi Fin-Q survey

* Only 27 percent of Australians have life insurance
* 30 percent have a current will, up from 24 percent a year ago
* Roughly 1 in 4 (26%) worried about their financial future
* 30 per cent of Australians have less than four weeks savings in reserve

Sydney: When it comes to managing our personal finances, the 2009 scorecard for many Australians would say `big improvement'. And while research already released from Citi's latest Fin-Q survey indicates Australians gave more attention to their personal finances during 2009, there are areas that need further improvement.

Australians may be risk adverse when it comes to investing, but are still willing to risk their overall financial security. The third annual Citi Fin-Q survey showed that a low 27 percent of Australian adults have life insurance and 30 percent have a current will, although this is up from 24 percent in 2008. Worryingly, only 27 percent of people with children have an up-to-date will.

Basics like budgeting also receive a poor mark with 21 percent of people making a monthly budget and sticking to it. A further 59 percent make a budget but don't stick to it and 20 percent don't budget at all.

On the savings front, faced with loss of job and having to meet all the typical monthly expenses, most of us would have around nine weeks of savings in reserve, although 30 percent would have less than four weeks and 13 percent say they have no clue how long they could get by.

Andrew de Graaff from Citibank Wealth Management said: "Many of us will now be focused on building up our savings buffer again after the Christmas spending period and the challenges of 2009.

"Last year was a tough year by any stretch and more than one in two Australians say their finances were affected by the GFC. But it didn't end all badly. While 28 per cent of people say they are worse off than the same time last year, 36 percent say they are actually better off," Mr de Graaff said.

-Ends-

About the Citi Fin-Q Survey
Most of us know that IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient. The Citi Fin-Q Survey was designed to measure the Financial Quotient (Fin-Q Score) or financial well-being of consumers. As part of this survey, Citi scored respondents on 11 different questions closely related to financial well-being with a maximum possible score of 100.

The Citi Fin-Q Survey was conducted by CXC Research and involved surveying 5,200 people across 11 countries. The results we share with you today are taken from a representative sample of 500 Australian adults, 18 years of age or older who we surveyed between 6-12 October 2009.

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Leila Dean:
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Kristen Kaus:
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SOURCE: Citibank