Financial Competence Assessment Inventory

Description of the FCAI

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The FCAI is an individually administered psychological test designed to provide an objective measure of six components of financial competence: everyday financial abilities; financial judgment; estate management; cognitive functioning related to financial tasks; debt management; and support resources, in adults with and adults without cognitive impairment. It provides a good description of the functional needs of adults with financial competence difficulties. The FCAI also provides information regarding the main processes involved in carrying out financial tasks, i.e., 'understanding,' 'appreciation,' 'reasoning,' and 'expressing a choice'. The FCAI was developed in consultation with accountants, financial administrators, financial counsellors, lawyers, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers.
 

Research has shown that scores on the FCAI can be used to distinguish between people who are financially competent (people who are managing their own financial affairs and do not have a legally appointed financial administrator) and those who are not (people who have been legally appointed a financial administrator). In addition, the FCAI has been found to be useful in providing profiles of strengths and weaknesses in six components of financial competence of people who have different types of cognitive impairment. Normative data is provided for people with acquired brain injury, schizophrenia, dementia, and intellectual disability, as well as for people without cognitive impairment.
 

The FCAI must be administered and scored by a professional with a graduate degree and training and experience in individual standardised assessment and test interpretation. It must be administered as per the instructions in the manual, otherwise, the resulting scores will not be comparable with those on whom the test was standardised.

The complete FCAI kit includes examiner’s manual, testing materials, and Response Booklets including Profile Scoring Forms.