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BBC TV blog
 - 
Martin Lewis
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	<title>Watchdog&apos;s Big Money Test</title>
	<description><![CDATA[<p>Last year, the <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/labuk/">BBC Lab UK</a> team left MoneySaving Towers (my offices) with their hands bitten off. </p>

<p>They'd come to me saying they wanted to conduct another of their <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/labuk/experiments/money/">mammoth experiments</a>, this time working with <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/programmes/b006mg74">Watchdog</a> on finance, did I want to get involved?</p>

<p>Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes - was my understated response and by the end of the sentence, talking 19 to the dozen as usual, I'd already suggested a mass of things to focus on.</p>

<p>It seems hardly possible that after all of the debates and discussions, it's finally time to go for it.  </p>

<p><a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/labuk/experiments/money/">The Big Money Test</a> has been six months in development and it's a completely unique experiment, designed to assess your financial capability. </p>

<p>You can do the test now on <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/labuk/experiments/money/">Lab UK's website</a>.</p>

<div class="imgCaptionCenter" style="text-align: center; display: block; "><a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/100929_money_large_promo_600.jpg"><img alt="Money expert Martin Lewis" src="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/assets_c/2011/04/100929_money_large_promo_600-thumb-600x400-71876.jpg" width="500" height="333" class="mt-image-center" style="margin: 0 auto 5px;" /></a><p style="max-width:500px;font-size: 11px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);margin: 0 auto 20px;"> </p></div>

<p><strong>Are you brave enough?</strong></p>

<p>It has always struck me as slightly odd that people are nervous about doing things with money, even when they know it'll help.  </p>

<p>So I suspect this test will be no different, some out there will feel nervous about it.</p>

<p>And in part, that's exactly what the test is about.  </p>

<p>While it's easy to think of money as a suited and booted practical problem, it's far more than that.  </p>

<p>It's an emotional subject that stretches into every area of our lives - families, habits, relationships, stress levels, lifestyle and even mental health.</p>

<p>The Big Money Test doesn't just examine your knowledge, but your money motivation, financial emotions, capability, attitudes and more - then tells you how you fared and what you can do to improve. </p>

<p><strong>A nation educated into debt, but never about debt</strong></p>

<p>Yet I've a hidden remit too. For years I've campaigned for financial education. It's a disgrace that in the 20 years since the introduction of student loans, we've been a nation that's educated its youth into debt when they go to university, but never educated them about debt. </p>

<p>In the last six months I've been heavily involved in setting up the <a href="http://www.pfeg.org/curriculum_and_policy/appg_on_financial_education_for_young_people/index.html">All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education</a>.</p>

<p>We've cajoled over 200 MPs into joining, and the investigations as to how we improve the country's financial capability and ensure all pupils leave school equipped, are about to start.</p>

<p>A substantial number of people in the UK lack the financial literacy and skills needed to thrive in our increasingly complex consumer economy. </p>

<p>That's why for me, the joy of the Big Money Test is that underneath the polished BBC interactive exterior, the engine driving this is a serious academic experiment, designed by some big brained psychologists in the hope it'll point the way to making us, as a nation, better with money.</p>

<p>And it's that type of authoritative analysis that's crucial right now. </p>

<p>Hopefully it'll establish a picture of the nation's strengths and weaknesses across the financial capability landscape. </p>

<p><strong>And it's a chance to get nasty...</strong></p>

<p>Yet don't think this is some po-faced academic survey. </p>

<p>For me the most fun part, apart from again working with <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/watchdog/about/">Annie</a> on Watchdog (the adrenaline always pumps - I'm never quite sure whether it's fear or excitement) is that I get to put a few nasty quiz type questions of my own in, to test people's real life money knowledge.</p>

<p>It'll be interesting to see if the psychologists' tests, designed to examine people's view of how good they are with cash, match the results of my more practical questions. </p>

<p>Do those who think they're good really have the knowledge? We'll see.</p>

<p><em>Martin Lewis presents the Big Money Test on <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/programmes/b010hd38">Watchdog</a> on <a href="https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/bbcone/">BBC One</a> at 8pm on Tuesday, 14 April.</p>

<p><strong>Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.</strong></em></p>]]></description>
         <dc:creator>Martin Lewis 
Martin Lewis
</dc:creator>
	<link>https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/tv/2011/04/watchdogs-money-test.shtml</link>
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	<category>bbc one</category>
	<pubDate>Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
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