Coins and Costs: A Simple and Rapid Assessment of Basic Financial Knowledge

Abstract

Introduction We describe a simple and rapid screening test for basic financial knowledge that is suitable for administration to people with mild intellectual disabilities. Method The Coins and Costs test asks respondents to name coins, and to estimate prices of objects ranging between £1 (an ice cream) and £100K (a small house). The test was administered, alongside a battery of neuropsychological tests, to 40 people attending day services (mean Full-Scale IQ = 59.1). Results Total scores were normally distributed, and correlated significantly with receptive language ability and performance on memory tests, but not with IQ or executive functioning. Conclusion The test provides a rapid (<5 min) screening test that has good psychometric properties and appears very suitable for assessing basic financial knowledge of people with mild intellectual disabilities.