About the TOFS

Development of the TOFS

The Test of Financial Skills (TOFS) was developed by a team of Australian clinical neuropsychologists and researchers led by Dr Stephanie Wong and Associate Professor Fiona Kumfor.

The TOFS is a neuropsychological test with 3 subsections assessing everyday financial skills (e.g., handling cash, paying bills, budgeting), susceptibility to financial exploitation (scam detection, gullibility), and financial judgment and literacy. The aim of the TOFS is to provide a standardised, objective measure of performance in these areas of financial skills in order to guide clinical recommendations for financial management and support.

Validation of the TOFS is ongoing and is currently being conducted in Australian older adults (over the age of 50) with and without dementia. Preliminary results of the study show the TOFS to be able to differentiate between healthy controls (older adults without cognitive impairment) and those with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia.

Development of mini-TOFS

The mini-Test of Financial Skills (mini-TOFS) is a free online short version of the TOFS. The mini-TOFS was developed to make the TOFS and resources for financial skills support and information more accessible to the general population. Development of the mini-TOFS was supported by an Ageing Well and Financial Wellbeing research grant from the Ecstra Foundation.

As the mini-TOFS is not administered by a clinician, it has some limitations. The mini-TOFS is not a clinical diagnostic test and does not replace the full TOFS. It only provides an estimation of your financial skills to direct you to helpful resources for information and support. The recommendations are intended as a guide only and do not constitute financial or medical advice. If you are concerned about your cognitive or financial skills, please seek advice from your doctor.

I'm a clinician - how can I access the TOFS?

The TOFS was designed to be administered by a qualified clinician with expertise in neuropsychological assessment and interpretation. If you would like more information about the TOFS and its use in clinical settings, please contact us.