Definitions and a holistic lens on Financial Well-Being

Financial Well-Being Framework

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[1] The definition for ‘Financial Well-Being’ was developed by CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) in the US and was adopted by our organization. The proprietary Financial Well-Being Framework was developed by Seymour Consulting (now Financial Resilience Institute) with this peer-reviewed by many organizations and academics around the world.

The Financial Well-Being Framework provides a holistic lens on the complex, multi- dimensional construct of consumer financial well-being.

The Framework provides the foundation for the longitudinal Financial Well-Being Study launched in Canada in June 2017, with application across many countries.

The Framework includes the three inter-related constructs of Financial Health, Financial Resilience and Financial Wellness within the over-arching complex construct of Financial Well-Being.

A focus on financial behaviours across the four pillars and the spectrum of financial services

The Financial Well-Being Framework includes four pillars of financial health that span the financial services spectrum:

  • Daily financial management
  • Borrowing and debt management
  • Saving, planning and investing and
  • Protection against the unexpected

These are tracked in the context of the consumers’ life and their financial health decisions over the short, medium and longer term.

Additional Information

  • Within the Financial Well-Being Study instrument, we measure and track other indicators related to:
    •  financial confidence
    • financial literacy
    • financial capability
    • financial resilience
    • financial inclusion
    • financial empowerment
    • reported consumer and financial behaviours that support (or detract) from one’s financial well-being; and
    • financial services (and other) support and enablement
  • The Institute measures the extent to which more financially vulnerable populations experience financial inclusion and other challenges disproportionately.
  • In addition, we leverage our Financial Resilience Index Model to measure and quantify
  • the extent to which improved financial inclusion (or access to relevant support) can help drive measurable improvements in a person’s financial resilience and/or improved health and well-being.

More information and insights around the Financial Well-Being Framework, which form the foundation for the Financial Well-Being studies instrument and Financial Well-Being Model and Score are here: