43 per cent of 18-24-year-old Brits don’t have any savings, to cover unexpected costs, despite 81 per cent believing they’re capable of managing their finances – new research has revealed.

Women are less comfortable managing their money than men, with a quarter of women feeling ill at ease, compared to only 14 per cent of men.

The research, commissioned by FX Trading training company Samuel & Co. Trading, also found that women have a particularly haphazard approach to planning for their financial futures. An astounding three quarters (77%) don’t have any long-term goals, compared to 53 per cent of men who have a five-year plan in place.

When it comes to the monthly payslip, the research also revealed worrying trends. More than three quarters (78%) of women aren’t aware of how much they pay into their pension every month, while two thirds (35%) don’t know how much tax they pay. On the other hand, half of the male population are aware of how much they pay into the pension (50%) and tax (55%) every month.

The problems don’t end there, nearly a third of women (28%) don’t understand the T&C’s on their credit card compared to 21 per cent of men.

Finally, although the general population claim to be comfortable with managing their finances, it’s clear their financial understanding isn’t up to scratch. Again, women fall short with two thirds (61%) admitting to not understanding financial vocabulary compared to 38 per cent of men.

On the research, Samuel Leach, director of Samuel & Co. Trading said, “At a time of such economic uncertainty, as exacerbated by last week’s interest rate rise, it’s unsettling to see such a high percentage of the young population, in particular women, failing to plan for their financial futures as well as being unable to recognise the vulnerable position this puts them in.

“We need to focus on educating younger Brits on financial management sooner, to avoid this becoming a common trend.”