Financial well-being appears to be more strongly associated with how people manage what they have than with demographic factors such as income, according to the inaugural Franc Wealth Index, a survey of 3 952 financially active South Africans conducted in early 2026.
Franc is a South African fintech platform that positions itself as a digital “wealth coach”, offering investment products and tools aimed at improving financial habits among individuals without access to formal advice.
The report assigns a median Wealth Index score of 45 out of 100, suggesting that most respondents are neither financially secure nor in acute distress but lack key foundational behaviours required for long-term financial stability. Nearly 58% of respondents scored below 50.
At the centre of the findings is a modelling result that distinguishes the study from more descriptive assessments of financial health. Using logistic regression, the report finds that behavioural factors – including investment behaviour, budgeting, and goal-setting – are more strongly associated with a higher Wealth Index than demographic characteristics such as income, education, or age. Behavioural variables show odds ratios ranging from 2.25 to 3.31, compared with 1.03 to 1.85 for demographic factors.
The report summarises this as follows: “What you do with your money is a more powerful predictor of financial health than your age, education, or income.”
A composite measure of financial well-being
The Franc Wealth Index is constructed as a composite score derived from a 10-question self-assessment covering three pillars: resilience (including savings, debt, insurance and expense tracking), growth (saving, investing and retirement planning) and mindset (knowledge, confidence, and financial anxiety). Each question is scored out of 10, producing a total score out of 100.
Dr Thomas Brennan, co-founder and chief executive of Franc, said the index was designed to make financial well-being more tangible.
“We built the Wealth Index because we wanted to go beyond the numbers on a bank statement. The most important thing this data tells us is that financial well-being is not a reward for earning enough, but rather the result of building the right habits.”
The report says the sample skews towards South Africans in the traditional working and wealth-building years, with nearly 70% of respondents aged between 26 and 45, and a median age of 34. Women make up 62% of the sample.
In terms of income, 82% of respondents earn below R30 000 a month, which “broadly mirrors working adults in South Africa’. More than half hold a tertiary qualification, which, the report notes, “makes gaps in financial behaviour all the more significant”.
Knowledge does not translate into action
A recurring theme throughout the data is the disconnect between financial awareness and financial outcomes.
Although 64% of respondents rate their investment knowledge as intermediate or above, this does not translate into strong financial behaviours. Emergency savings is the lowest-scoring component of the index at 2.7 out of 10, with 87% of respondents having less than three months’ income set aside.
Similarly, 70% of respondents are inadequately prepared for retirement, and one in four reports being unable to save at all monthly.
The report characterises this as a structural gap between intention and execution, noting that respondents are generally engaged but lack the “structural foundation that turns good intentions into compounding progress towards financial stability and wealth”.
“The gap between knowing and doing is the defining challenge for financial well-being in South Africa. South Africans are not disengaged or uninformed. They are anxious, and that anxiety makes it harder to act,” said Brennan.
The findings are presented against a backdrop of limited access to financial advice. Fewer than one in ten South Africans have access to independent financial advice, leaving most individuals to navigate financial decisions without formal guidance.
While financial literacy remains an important factor, the report suggests that improving knowledge alone is unlikely to close the gap between intention and execution.
Debt and liquidity as systemic constraints
Two factors emerge as particularly significant in shaping outcomes across the dataset: debt burden and emergency savings.
Although debt management is the highest-scoring individual behaviour (6.6 out of 10), this masks a clear divide. Approximately 34% of respondents are classified as over-indebted, defined as having debt repayments exceeding 35% of income.
Respondents with manageable debt have a median Wealth Index of 53, compared with 31 for those who are over-indebted – a 22-point gap associated with weaker outcomes across savings, investment behaviour, emergency savings, and financial anxiety.
Emergency savings shows a similar pattern. The absence of a financial buffer is not only a risk factor in itself but is also associated with lower investment activity and higher levels of financial anxiety. The report describes these as “not isolated problems” but “fault lines through which financial well-being fractures”.
A behavioural rather than demographic explanation
According to the report, the analysis suggests that improving financial outcomes is less dependent on demographic progression than on behavioural consistency.
Although higher income and education levels are associated with improved Wealth Index scores, the relationship is not sufficient on its own. Scores rise with income up to the R60 000-to-R150 000 bracket before declining slightly among the highest earners, suggesting that higher income alone does not consistently translate into stronger financial outcomes.
Similarly, financial well-being does not consistently improve with age, with average scores remaining relatively stable across cohorts.
Financial personas
The report segments respondents into four financial “personas”, each characterised by a distinct combination of behaviours and constraints rather than income level alone.
“Conscientious Optimisers” achieve the strongest outcomes, combining low debt with automated, diversified investing, and clear financial planning. At the other end of the spectrum, “Stressed Strugglers” operate in a persistent state of financial fragility, with minimal savings, high debt, and elevated financial anxiety limiting their ability to engage in long-term wealth-building.
Between these extremes are two groups with similar overall scores but different underlying challenges. “Disciplined Builders” demonstrate consistent saving behaviour and low debt, but lack retirement planning and adequate insurance cover, leaving them exposed to long-term risks. By contrast, “Stalled Professionals” typically have higher income and financial knowledge but remain constrained by high debt levels and a lack of emergency savings, making it more difficult to convert earnings into sustained financial progress.
The segmentation suggests that financial outcomes are shaped by specific behavioural gaps – such as insufficient liquidity, over-indebtedness, or lack of long-term planning – rather than by income level in isolation.
Keystone behaviours and where they matter most
The report identifies a set of “keystone habits” – behaviours that are associated with measurable improvements across multiple dimensions of financial well-being. Rather than improving a single score, these habits are linked to broad-based gains across other financial behaviours.
Having a clear and regularly reviewed financial plan shows the largest average uplift, improving other behaviour scores by an average of 2.3 points. This is followed by consistent investment behaviour (+2.2), maintaining an emergency fund (+2.1), and higher monthly saving rates (+2.1).
The report also notes that saving more than 20% of income is one of the behaviours associated with a positive shift across an individual’s broader financial profile.
The data suggests that these behaviours reinforce one another. For example, strong financial planning is most closely associated with improved investment behaviour, while adequate emergency savings, insurance coverage, and manageable debt levels are linked to the largest reductions in financial anxiety.
Importantly, the report notes that the most effective starting point for improving financial wellbeing is not necessarily the area where an individual scores lowest, but the behaviour most likely to unlock progress across multiple areas.
The relative importance of these behaviours also shifts across income levels.
- At lower income levels, investment behaviour is the primary differentiator between higher- and lower-scoring individuals, with automated and diversified investing associated with materially stronger outcomes.
- In middle-income groups, the presence of an emergency fund becomes the key dividing line between stronger and weaker financial positions.
- At higher income levels, mindset factors – particularly financial anxiety and confidence – emerge as the main differentiator.
Taken together, these findings suggest that financial progress is not driven by a single intervention, but by identifying and activating the behaviour most likely to shift an individual’s broader financial profile.
Click here to download the Franc Wealth Index Report.
