Financial resources that could help you get more confident with managing your money

Are you worried about the increasing cost of living? Although we can’t offer you any advice, we can point you in the direction of some financial resources that could help you to boost your knowledge and confidence when it comes to managing your money.

By Louise Cunnah

Created on: 25/04/2022

Updated: 06/09/2022

Reading time: 5 mins

Money is one of those things that has a huge impact on our lives, yet many of us don’t feel confident when it comes to talking about it or even managing it – especially in the face of the rising bills that many of us in the UK are now facing.

In fact, 1 in 2 UK adults don’t feel confident managing their money according to the latest Financial Wellbeing Survey¹, which was conducted by the Money and Pensions Service in 2021.

With inflation continuing to rise, more and more of us will want to get the most from our money – and a key component of this is having financial literacy skills. If you’ve never come across this term before, it basically means that you’re able to understand and make use of a range of financial skills and tools such as borrowing, budgeting, and investing. Yet despite this, our own research from the same year found that 38% of savers in the UK don’t understand how investing actually works.²

This is something that needs to change, as everyone should be able to feel confident making financial decisions. So, although we can’t provide financial advice, there are some great (and free!) resources out there offering money tips and support to help you increase your financial literacy. Check out our round-up of some of our favourites below.

Citizen’s Advice

If you’re in the UK and in need of guidance (not just regarding your finances, but other areas too), then you might want to consider contacting Citizens Advice. As a national charity with a network of local charities, they have 20,000 trained volunteers to aid the delivery of their services, which includes giving tailored support and advice via phone, online chat, email, and face-to-face meetings at their drop-in centres.

As well as providing money advice, they could also help you with issues relating to housing, health, consumer rights, employment, benefits, immigration, the law, and family disputes.

Citizens Advice also has dedicated websites for the different parts of the UK to help ensure that you get the most appropriate guidance and support, where you can find various guides and tools on a range of topics. In terms of personal finance, these include budgeting, debt, pensions, and benefits you could be entitled to if you’re on a low income.

MoneyHelper and Pension Wise

MoneyHelper is another great financial resource that is backed by the UK government. Its aim is to ‘cut through the complexity’ surrounding money and pensions to help make people’s choices clearer when it comes to managing their money.

Whether you need guidance on the benefits you could claim while working, information on renting or buying a home, tips on budgeting, or something more serious like dealing with debt, the MoneyHelper website has plenty of articles to help you get advice. The website can be used to educate yourself on things you may need to know in future, such as how much you might need to retire, or the costs to look out for when buying a property. It also offers handy tools to help you in different scenarios, such as a baby costs calculator and bill prioritiser.

But where does Penson Wise come in? This is a free government service that can be accessed via the MoneyHelper website. It is available for anyone over 50 with a defined contribution pension pot and offers free appointments so you can find out how you could take money from your pension when you’re able to – making it a valuable service to be aware of.

Money Heroes

Financial literacy skills aren’t just something that are beneficial as an adult – teaching your children about money while they’re still young could also help them to develop healthier attitudes towards saving that they can carry with them into adulthood. And if you’re unsure of when a good age to start talking to yours about money is, research³ shows that people typically form their financial habits by the age of 7.

Money Heroes from Young Money is a free information hub that gives teachers and children access to resources to help teach kids about money. Supported by HSBC, it offers a range of materials that are suitable for parents and children aged between 3 and 11, such as printable resources, a podcast, and storybooks to help you start the conversation with your little ones.

Plus, if you sign up for a free account on the Money Heroes website, you’ll get an online dashboard where you can track your child’s progress as they learn.

Our own blog

Okay, we may be biased, but we think our blog is pretty great. And instead of just banging on about why you might want to invest with us, we write about various financial topics that could help you to learn about money and help it work harder for you.

From popular investing techniques you could use to give your money an opportunity to grow, to tips on budgeting, preparing for your future retirement, and even in-depth guides on things that could have a big impact on your finances (such as inflation and interest rates). We’re always writing new content to help you boost your financial literacy and make the most of your money.

And our blog doesn’t just have to be accessed through our website. If you have an account with us, you can keep in the loop on our latest blogs in the app. Just go to the ‘Articles’ section’ to read the newest additions or browse by category if there’s a particular topic that you’re interested in, such as ‘investing’ or ‘retirement planning’.

No matter your relationship with your finances, we hope that you find these resources helpful – whether you’re aiming to improve your own financial literacy, teach your children about money, or are simply looking for ways to make your money stretch further this year.

Please remember that with investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up, and you could get back less than you invested.

Wealthify does not offer financial advice. Seek financial advice if you’re unsure about investing.

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