소비자를 둘러싼 환경이 급변하면서 소비자의 내면적 능력인 역량의 증진이 주요 이슈가 되었고, 특히 소비자의 가장 근원적 생활영역인 재무관리영역에 있어서 현명한 의사결정을 하기 위한 재무관리역량의 중요성이 대두되었다. 소비자의 자주적 의사결정을 가능케 하는 재무관리역량을 키워주기 위하여 선행되어야 할 것은 그 수준을 정확히 파악하는 것이며 그를 위한 적절한 도구가 마련되어 있어야 한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 소비자의 재무관리역량 척도를 개발하는 작업을 수행하였다. 다수의 선행연구 고찰을 통해 소비자 재무관리역량의 개념을 정의하고 세부내용을 규정하였으며, 델파이법을 통해 내용요소를 선정하고 그에 대응되는 문항을 생성한 다음, 다항목 척도 개발 과정과 서베이 및 측정타당화 과정을 통한 문항검증을 수행하여 신뢰도와 타당도를 갖춘 문항들을 선별하였다. 그 결과 3개 구성요인과 6개 하위영역에 대하여 재무관리태도 22문항, 재무관리지식 44문항, 재무관리기능 40문항의 총 106문항으로 이루어진 재무관리역량 척도가 완성되었고, 이에 근거하여 재무관리역량의 증진 및 후속연구를 위한 몇 가지 제언을 하였다.
In today’s fast changing society mainly driven by a globalized economy and smart marketing strategies, it is essential for every individual to adapt to these social changes and have the ability to stay informed. Particularly in the financial area, which remains very close to our practical life, consumers are faced with various challenges. That is why having the competency to manage financial issues well and make wise decisions has become crucial in this dynamic society. To prepare consumers for fast evolving financial environments so that they stay knowledgeable for their financial management decisions, it is necessary to help them develop their financial competency. However, to do so, we first need to decide how to define consumer financial competency with a proper set of tools. Unfortunately, research in this field has not been active to date, thus there has been no objective measure to determine such competency. For these reasons, this study was performed with an aim to help consumers manage their financial issues effectively. First of all, the concept of consumer financial competency was defined, and then, based on this definition, a systemized measure was developed. The objective standard is focused on measuring Korean consumer financial competency in order to contribute to the improvement of financial welfare for consumers. To establish the meaning of financial competency, a literature review was conducted. To select the contents, a Delphi method was carried out with experts in the personal finance area. For the establishment of the measure, the reliability and validity were examined by using 444 cases of data sets collected through online surveys. Through this process, the following conclusions were made: First, a wide range of literature was examined to define what financial competency means, constructing the components and sub-categories. These components included financial management attitude, financial management knowledge and financial management skills. There were six sub-categories: managing income and spending, credit and debt management, savings and investment, risk management and insurance, retirement planning, financial market environment and decision-making for financial management. Second, based on this definition, a systemized consumer financial competency measure was developed. As the frame and elements provided the base of developing the measure, 136 of the initial 154 elements were selected through the Delphi method to refine the contents. After this, 106 items of quantifying financial competency, including 22 for financial management attitude, 44 for financial management knowledge and 40 for financial management skills, were decided through a verification process.