Fool News: Money Is A More Taboo Subject Than Politics
We share the results of our latest Fool survey, which finds that we're close-lipped when it comes to discussing our finances.
Brits would rather talk about politics than pounds when it comes to our finances, according to research by The Fool.Although politics is considered one of the most taboo topics of conversation, our survey found 28% of Brits would rather debate political issues than talk about personal finance. We prefer to talk about careers, sex and even embarrassing health problems rather than the state of our bank accounts.According to the 1,592 adults surveyed, money falls bottom of a long list of topics, with religious beliefs (20%), careers concerns (20%) and even relationship problems (12%) considered more favourable subjects than money.It also seems that attitudes towards different topics vary through the generations. More than a third of over 65s (34%) would rather talk about politics than money. For the 18-24s, career concerns were top of the list, with almost half (43%) citing work as their preferred topic of conversation over money. Sex was also a popular topic for the younger generation, with one in ten (11%) preferring to talk about their sexual past than their finances.Regionally, London revealed itself as the most politically conversational region, with over a third (37%) choosing this topic over money. The Welsh were the most likely to talk about their sex lives, with over one in ten (13%) claiming they'd rather talk about their bedroom antics than their financial ones.In typical Confucius-style wisdom, David Kuo, Fool Head of Personal Finance commented:'This survey really shows the lengths we'll go to in order to avoid discussing money if we'd rather talk politics than our finances! As the old saying goes -- a problem shared is a problem halved. By not talking about our finances, we're bottling up all those money worries and debt concerns, and this isn't doing us any good.'In a bid to encourage people to fess up their financial concerns, Fool has launched a campaign called Let's Talk About Money. Every day in October we are publishing a new article, poll or podcast to help kick-start the conversation!