Financial Self-Awareness: Who Knows What They Don't Know?
10 Pages Posted: 15 Jul 2019 Last revised: 25 Jan 2020
Date Written: January 23, 2020
Abstract
We examine the influence of financial literacy and perceptions of financial knowledge on households' financial risk-taking. Greater literacy and self-belief in one's literacy positively relate to equity ownership. However, self-awareness of illiteracy reduces participation by about 5%. We find that financial self-awareness is impacted by innate traits and environmental elements. Specifically, it is reduced by risk-seeking preferences and rising income but increases with income uncertainty. Overall, we demonstrate that accurate self-assessment has implications for individuals’ portfolio choices, which suggests policy implications for improving financial decision-making.
Keywords: stock market participation, financial literacy, self-awareness
JEL Classification: D14, G11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation