The vast majority of parents and teachers believe that personal finance should be taught at schools, new research shows.

In a study carried out by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and the Personal Finance Education group (pfeg), it was revealed that 93 per cent of people from these groups think that the subject, which could include areas such as loans, budgeting, savings accounts and debt, should be a part of the curriculum. Meanwhile, half of such Britons state that teaching on this area should be mandatory.

Indeed after having such classes, it is possible that children will be much more confident when managing their money in later life and will be able to do so with greater efficiency. This may see them be able to pick out cheap loans and other competitively-priced financial products with greater ease.

As part of the financial education that children receive, both parents and teachers believe that managing a budget is the most important skill they can learn. This was followed by explanation of the mortgages and house buying process and then guidance into what various monetary terms mean. Getting economic advice, handling debts and tax issues were also among those topics viewed as crucial in improving children’s future money management skills.

However, when it came to analysing their own fiscal skills, both parents and teachers indicated that there is room for improvement. The study showed that 36 per cent of people in the teaching profession and 35 per cent of mums and dads think that their financial knowledge is just good enough for them to get by and no more. Meanwhile, just 12 per cent of teachers believe their awareness is “very good”, with this proportion rising to 14 per cent among parents. Areas that both these groups of adults believe that they need to brush up on include planning for retirement, managing budgets and mortgages.

Just over half (51 per cent) of mums and dads state that education on personal finance is important, as if they were taught about money matters when they were young their financial standing would be stronger now. It was also revealed that two-thirds of parents would like to receive some training on loans, mortgages and other fiscal areas now, as an adult, to pass on to their children and help them get to grips with their spending.

Commenting on the figures, Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director for AIC, said: “Parents are clearly worried about their children’s ability to manage their finances in the future and feel financial education is a crucial skill for adult life. Parents clearly believe that financial education should be part of the national curriculum - even rating it higher than geography - and parents clearly feel they have missed out by not learning the basics, so it’s no wonder they want their children to be better prepared for the wider world. It’s obvious that parents want more financial information themselves so they are better informed and can pass on their knowledge to their children.”

Wendy Van den Hende, chief executive for pfeg, added that although education on personal finance has taken major strides recently “there’s still a long way to go”. She claimed: “If more schools take up the opportunity to bring personal finance into the classroom we really will be preparing children for the complexities of managing their finances in the future.”

Upon getting financial advice, it is possible those consumers who are struggling with money may discover that a cheap loan can help them to supplement their spending. Such guidance may also assist them in getting other competitively-priced financial products such as pensions. Last month, a study conducted by Abbey indicated that 53 per cent of Britons are unaware how much money they need to fund a certain standard of living in retirement. For those concerned about their ability to put money into pension schemes taking out a loan for debt consolidation purposes may help borrowers to pay off various financial demands and free up more disposable income to put away for the future.

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