The financial knowledge of Italian households: the need for education against financial apprehension

The third issue of the Consob Report on Financial investments of Italian households shows that in 2016 net wealth keeps rising among euro area households, whilst in Italy it remains stable at 2007 level. Italian households net disposable income has steadily increased since 2012 across Eurozone countries. However, the level of financial knowledge of Italian households remains largely unsatisfactory, also in terms of understanding of financial risk dimensions, increasing the phenomenon of financial apprehension. All this contributes to a rethinking of the financial advisor role, who should develop educational attitude to raise the investors awareness level by strengthening its skills.