The research theme is personal finance. In the literature review, it addresses consumer behavior and the purchasing decision process, the phenomenon of financialization of the economy and its impacts, as well as investigating possible reasons that explain the difficulty in dealing with money and finances. Also in the literature review are analyzed the topics financial education and individual financial planning. It presents an empirical study on personal finances, conducted through field research with 50 young academics from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro. It concludes that some results of this study are positive but others indicate that most participants do not demonstrate effective knowledge about financial education and financial planning.