Edel Coffey: Is financial literacy more than about the numbers?

"Numbers are logical, straight-forward. It’s emotions and bad habits that mess things up."

Edel Coffey. Picture: Ray Ryan

Just over a year ago, I read an article in the Financial Times by the rock star Courtney Love. She was talking about the about the idea of ‘financial literacy’ and how she had made and lost millions because she had failed to educate herself when it came to her finances.

I wondered how financially literate I was. I had the basic skills of knowing what goes out of my bank account should not exceed what comes in, but that’s not the same thing as being fluent in finance.