ME Bank is putting its finger on the national economic pulse with a new index that measures the financial health of Australian households.
In late 2011, ME Bank launched its Household Financial Health Dynamics Report. A comprehensive survey of more than 1,500 Australian households, the report focused on:
- the way Australian households feel about their financial comfort
- the actual financial state of Australian households
- the relationship between the two.
ME Bank CEO, Jamie McPhee, said that the report provided a range of important findings that would be both interesting and useful to track over time.
“Unlike other financial indexes, ME Bank wanted to use this research to really focus in on the average Australian household.
“We wanted to find out how comfortable households are feeling about their finances and whether that feeling tallied with their actual financial state.
“This research will provide important insights for policy makers, governments and society in general,” he said.
The inaugural report found that:
- the single factor most closely aligned to household financial comfort is not income, but rather superannuation holdings
- two-thirds of Australians are financial realists, with their comfort level and actual financial situation aligning
- one in seven Australians feel overly comfortable given their actual financial state.
The report also found that Australian households are feeling reasonably comfortable with their finances overall, however single parent households are the least comfortable and retirees are the most comfortable.
To obtain a copy of the full report, click here. For a summary of key findings and graphics, click here.