Financial literacy and retirement planning in New Zealand

We compare levels of financial literacy between the general adult population of New Zealand, people of Maori ethnicity, and people of Ngai Tahu, a Maori tribe that is providing financial education to its members. While the level of financial knowledge of Maori people is generally lower than for non-Maori (controlling for demographic and economic factors), there is little difference between the financial knowledge of the people of Ngai Tahu and other New Zealanders. Moreover, we find that financial literacy is not significantly associated with planning for retirement. This could reflect the dominant role of New Zealand's universal public pension system in providing retirement income security.