Financial literacy and financial strategies: The mediating role of financial concerns

This article analyses how the financial literacy of elderly people affects their decisions on the adoption of various financial strategies. Multiple mediator models with bootstrap techniques are used to identify the mediating mechanisms of financial concerns that transmit the effects of financial literacy onto specific financial strategies. We find (1) financial concerns mediate the majority of financial literacy-strategy nexuses; specifically, financially illiterate people are more likely to have financial concerns and are more likely to cut back on spending, seek job opportunities, increase debts and downsize or sell their residence as a result; (2) financially literate people are more likely to seek professional financial advice, purchase a life annuity, contribute more to superannuation and invest more conservatively, regardless of their concerns. Our findings suggest professional advisors and robo-advisor developers take into account financial concerns when recommending advice.