Regardless of gender or education level, most people become considerably less literate when it comes to handling money issues after age 60, according to a recent study.

The result is that retirees with significant cognitive deficits will have problems making sound financial decisions. They may make investment mistakes that cause losses in their retirement accounts that will reduce their retirement incomes and standards of living.

Or, even worse, unscrupulous advisors might take advantage of them by selling them inappropriate investments, or one with excessive commissions -- something that's more more easily done when decision-making abilities and the grasp of financial concepts are diminished.

Swiping, waiting and then having your debit card declined is one of the most stomach churning moments you’ll ever experience. If you don’t have the money in the bank, you’re now exposed as a forgetful idiot ... or worse. 

And even if it’s a bank error, that red-faced "what?" is still going to attract impatient, if not judgmental looks from those behind you -- which can be a problem for some people.

After all, many of us our self-esteem, identity or feelings of self-worth wrapped up in financial matters – all of which makes dealing with awkward money incidents particularly unsettling.

So much so that 48 per cent of consumers admit they've avoided someone or a particular situation that involved money because they knew it would likely get messy.

Whether it's a childhood of poverty or want, a message about money subconsciously internalized from a parent, or a nest egg lost to an economic downturn later in life, everyone has experienced a financial flashpoint in their lives.

Did you know there's a rhyme and reason to why you file your income tax return?

It's because it's the right thing to do.

According to the Psychology of Taxes Study by BMO Nesbitt Burns, 52 per cent of Canadians say they file their taxes because they believe its their civic duty. 

People make riskier decisions when they're given more choice, according to a study into how we behave when faced with large amounts of information.

What’s more, while our choices about risk invariably feel right when we make them, many of these decisions end up hurting us in the end.

The researchers set up a gambling game where players were rated on their decision-making when faced with a large number of potential wagers. The result was that people took riskier gambles when they mistakenly felt that there was a higher probability of winning big.

The problem is that most of us don’t sample any given choice enough to understand the consequences associated with it, the study suggests. This leads to taking riskier choices more often.

Although there has been considerable debate over just what IQ tests actually measure and might predict, studies have suggested that those who achieve higher scores are more likely to do well in school, earn more money, and even live longer.

But are would-be MENSA members out for themselves, or are they precisely the sort of people you want on your team?

Sign them up, says Garrett Jones, a professor at George Mason University, who feels that there is a strong relation between IQ and trust/trustworthiness.

Last year, I wrote a column about a Stanford University experiment in which groups of students donned virtual reality headgear that gave them an opportunity to interact with computer renderings of themselves.

What's interesting is that one group was shown only images of themselves at their current age, while the other also were presented with age-morphed versions of how they might look years down the road. 

When each group was later asked how much they would save for retirement, the ones who saw their older selves said they would save twice as much on average as the other group, largely because they empathized with their future selves.

Following up on this idea, some financial institutions have developed web-based tools to bring these images to life. A handy reminder as the annual RRSP season kicks off again.

While many wine lovers will tell you otherwise, the most dominant flavour in that glass of Merlot may its price tag.

"We’ve known for a long time that there’s a correlation between what you pay for a wine and how good it tastes to you, but this correlation only exists, of course, when people know the price," says Dan Ariely, author of The Upside of Irrationality.

To prove his point, he references the work of wine critic Robin Goldstein, whose paper detailing more than 6,000 blind tastings maintains that “individuals who are unaware of the price do not derive more enjoyment from more expensive wine.”

Goldstein argues that most people buy wine based on image rather than any combination of smell or taste and that our expectations do influence our enjoyment.

As a result, when most people are given wine without seeing the label, they’re just as likely to prefer cheaper wines as compared to more expensive wines.

Is regifting rude? You know you do it, or have at least thought about it, but is it really so bad?

And when you do succumb, do you draw a distinction between gifts from friends, family, or the folks at the office?

When it comes to holiday cheer in the workplace, nearly four in 10 workers have passed a gift from a family member off to a colleague or friend, according to Reuters. And they're quite good at it. Just 3%  say they have been caught out.

But, even if somebody had noticed, new research suggests that regifting isn't all that offensive, Live Science reports. Although it depends on whether you're giving or receiving.

As good consumers, we are taught never to live beyond our means, for that is how all financial misery will begin.

But then, in many ways doing so is the only way we can get that jacket, that car, that condo in the sky. Spending more than we should, then figuring it out later, is a disease caused by the modern marketplace. It’s affected us all.

Hardship is sure to follow such fiscal imprudence, though maybe the consequences can stretch much further than debt.

Perhaps keeping up with the Joneses can in fact boost your risk of suicide, too.