Can financial advice act as a substitute for financial literacy?

Dr Michelle Reyers from the Department of Financial Management was invited to present a poster at the 2015 Boulder Summer Conference on Consumer Financial Decision Making, which took place in Colorado, USA, from 31 May to 2 June.

Her poster, entitled ‘Can financial advice act as a substitute for financial literacy?’, considers the role that advice plays in assisting individuals with low levels of financial literacy in making optimal financial decisions. The findings of her study highlight the importance of determining ways to provide affordable, quality advice to financially unsophisticated individuals.

The event was hosted by the Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business and attracted participants from around the world, including Europe, Australia and North America. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic of consumer financial decision making, scholars from a variety of fields, including finance, economics, marketing, psychology and law, participated in the conference. In addition, regulators and financial service practitioners were also in attendance.