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In this study, 396 university students in Turkey are surveyed online regarding their attitudes towards financial issues, their level of financial knowledge, and their financial behavior. The latest version of OECD/INFE Financial Literacy Survey (2018) is used in the study. Using SPSS and LISREL. Factor analysis, Cronbach's Alpha, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) are used to analyze the relationship between financial knowledge of the participants with their financial attitude and behavior as well as the mediation effect of financial attitude in this relationship. In line with the common wisdom that the relationship between knowledge and behavior is higher if knowledge is better reflected in the attitude of the individual, the mediation effect of financial attitude strengthens the financial knowledge and financial behavior relationship.

Küreselle?me, mal ve hizmetlerin dünya ölçe?inde serbest dola??m?d?r. Günümüzde teknolojide ya?anan geli?meler küreselle?menin h?z?n? artt?rm??t?r. Küreselle?meyle birlikte,  ekonomik geli?melerde ya?anan belirsizlik ve karma??kl?k, toplumlar?n ve bireylerin sosyo- ekonomik yap?lar?n? de?i?tirmi?tir. Toplumlar?n sosyo ekonomik yap?lar? bireylerin finansal kararlar?yla ?ekillenmektedir. Bireylerin alm?? oldu?u finansal kararlar?n do?rulu?u, bireylerin finansal okuryazarl?k düzeyi ile ilgilidir. Karma??k ve belirsiz ko?ullar içindeki ekonomide toplumun en küçük yap?s? olan ailelerin ald??? finansal kararlar sadece aileyi de?il tüm toplumu etkilemektedir. Ailelerin de?i?imin h?zl? ve sürekli oldu?u ekonomik hayatta ald??? yanl?? finansal kararlar nedeniyle birlik ve düzeni bozulmaktad?r. Bunun için demografik özelli?i farkl? her bireyin sahip oldu?u finansal okuryazarl?k düzeyini yükseltecek finansal e?itim uygulamalar?n?n önemi yüksektir. Birçok ara?t?rmada, ya?l? ve e?itim düzeyi dü?ük bireylerin daha çok finansal risk içinde oldu?u vurgulanmaktad?r. Bu çal??mada, Türk Silahl? Kuvvetlerinde görev yapm?? emekli askeri personelin finansal okuryazarl?k seviyesi incelenmi?tir. Ülkenin savunma hizmetlerinde çal??an Türk Silahl? Kuvvetleri personeli, görev sahas? itibariyle finansal sistemlerde ya?anan geli?melere uzak kalabilmektedir. Bu durum, bilgiye dayal? finansal kararlar alma becerisinin önemini art?rmaktad?r. Çal??ma sonucunda, emekli askeri personelin finansal okuryazarl?k seviyesi ve finansal bilgileri tespit edilmi?tir. Bu tespitler do?rultusunda aktif olarak görev yapan askeri personelin gelece?e dönük finansal fark?ndal???n? artt?rmak amaçlanm??t?r.

We measure the level of financial literacy in Turkey using the OECD/International Network on Financial Education (INFE) methodology and compare our results with the ones obtained in 14 other countries that has used the same methodology. In our sample, financial knowledge and financial behavior levels are lower than the average of the 14 countries, whereas financial attitude level is around the average. The overall financial literacy score, which is a combination of the three aforementioned aspects, is also lower than the average of the 14 countries. We find that financial behavior is positively related with financial knowledge, female respondents are lagging behind the male respondents in financial literacy, and this lag is bigger than those in the 14 countries. Very young respondents and old respondents are less financially literate, financial literacy score is positively related with income, education, and income stability.

An individual’s attitude toward financial risk tolerance (FRT) is an important preference that influences financial decision-making under uncertainty. FRT involves inter-temporal resource allocation. Accurate and reliable measures of FRT are essential for professionals advising consumers as well as researchers who are trying to predict, and understand consumer behavior. This study explores cross-cultural risk tolerance by comparing random samples from Turkey, and the United States. Similar and distinctive attitudes and patterns regarding FRT are identified. Three subjective measures of FRT are employed in this study: Grable and Lytton (1999), Hanna, Gutter and Fan’s (2001) improved version of Barsky, Juster, Kimball and Shapiro (1997), and the Survey of Consumer Finance’s item on risk tolerance. Data was collected via an online survey that used the above-mentioned FRT measures. There were two versions: the original American English version, and a culturally translated Turkish version. To explore the correlation of FRT among measures, we use bivariate analysis by individually employing Pearson Chi-square test of independence, and cross tabulations analysis to each sample. In addition, by pooling both samples, we conduct cumulative logistic regression. We delineate FRT differences and consistencies between countries across subjective financial risk tolerance measures.

In this study, 396 university students in Turkey are surveyed online regarding their attitudes towards financial issues, their level of financial knowledge, and their financial behavior. The latest version of OECD/INFE Financial Literacy Survey (2018) is used in the study. Using SPSS and LISREL. Factor analysis, Cronbach's Alpha, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) are used to analyze the relationship between financial knowledge of the participants with their financial attitude and behavior as well as the mediation effect of financial attitude in this relationship. In line with the common wisdom that the relationship between knowledge and behavior is higher if knowledge is better reflected in the attitude of the individual, the mediation effect of financial attitude strengthens the financial knowledge and financial behavior relationship.

We measure the level of financial literacy in Turkey using the OECD/International Network on Financial Education (INFE) methodology and compare our results with the ones obtained in 14 other countries that has used the same methodology. In our sample, financial knowledge and financial behavior levels are lower than the average of the 14 countries, whereas financial attitude level is around the average. The overall financial literacy score, which is a combination of the three aforementioned aspects, is also lower than the average of the 14 countries. We find that financial behavior is positively related with financial knowledge, female respondents are lagging behind the male respondents in financial literacy, and this lag is bigger than those in the 14 countries. Very young respondents and old respondents are less financially literate, financial literacy score is positively related with income, education, and income stability.

Küreselle?me, mal ve hizmetlerin dünya ölçe?inde serbest dola??m?d?r. Günümüzde teknolojide ya?anan geli?meler küreselle?menin h?z?n? artt?rm??t?r. Küreselle?meyle birlikte,  ekonomik geli?melerde ya?anan belirsizlik ve karma??kl?k, toplumlar?n ve bireylerin sosyo- ekonomik yap?lar?n? de?i?tirmi?tir. Toplumlar?n sosyo ekonomik yap?lar? bireylerin finansal kararlar?yla ?ekillenmektedir. Bireylerin alm?? oldu?u finansal kararlar?n do?rulu?u, bireylerin finansal okuryazarl?k düzeyi ile ilgilidir. Karma??k ve belirsiz ko?ullar içindeki ekonomide toplumun en küçük yap?s? olan ailelerin ald??? finansal kararlar sadece aileyi de?il tüm toplumu etkilemektedir. Ailelerin de?i?imin h?zl? ve sürekli oldu?u ekonomik hayatta ald??? yanl?? finansal kararlar nedeniyle birlik ve düzeni bozulmaktad?r. Bunun için demografik özelli?i farkl? her bireyin sahip oldu?u finansal okuryazarl?k düzeyini yükseltecek finansal e?itim uygulamalar?n?n önemi yüksektir. Birçok ara?t?rmada, ya?l? ve e?itim düzeyi dü?ük bireylerin daha çok finansal risk içinde oldu?u vurgulanmaktad?r. Bu çal??mada, Türk Silahl? Kuvvetlerinde görev yapm?? emekli askeri personelin finansal okuryazarl?k seviyesi incelenmi?tir. Ülkenin savunma hizmetlerinde çal??an Türk Silahl? Kuvvetleri personeli, görev sahas? itibariyle finansal sistemlerde ya?anan geli?melere uzak kalabilmektedir. Bu durum, bilgiye dayal? finansal kararlar alma becerisinin önemini art?rmaktad?r. Çal??ma sonucunda, emekli askeri personelin finansal okuryazarl?k seviyesi ve finansal bilgileri tespit edilmi?tir. Bu tespitler do?rultusunda aktif olarak görev yapan askeri personelin gelece?e dönük finansal fark?ndal???n? artt?rmak amaçlanm??t?r.

An individual’s attitude toward financial risk tolerance (FRT) is an important preference that influences financial decision-making under uncertainty. FRT involves inter-temporal resource allocation. Accurate and reliable measures of FRT are essential for professionals advising consumers as well as researchers who are trying to predict, and understand consumer behavior. This study explores cross-cultural risk tolerance by comparing random samples from Turkey, and the United States. Similar and distinctive attitudes and patterns regarding FRT are identified. Three subjective measures of FRT are employed in this study: Grable and Lytton (1999), Hanna, Gutter and Fan’s (2001) improved version of Barsky, Juster, Kimball and Shapiro (1997), and the Survey of Consumer Finance’s item on risk tolerance. Data was collected via an online survey that used the above-mentioned FRT measures. There were two versions: the original American English version, and a culturally translated Turkish version. To explore the correlation of FRT among measures, we use bivariate analysis by individually employing Pearson Chi-square test of independence, and cross tabulations analysis to each sample. In addition, by pooling both samples, we conduct cumulative logistic regression. We delineate FRT differences and consistencies between countries across subjective financial risk tolerance measures.