3 Common money questions people ask Google

 We're not all City bankers or Richard Bransons. In fact, very few of us are lucky to have the kind of financial knowledge we need to make sophisticated decisions about our finances. As long as we are able to cover our costs, put a little away and keep our pension looking healthy, most of us feel like we're doing pretty well.

There are, however, lots of areas of finance which many people are uncertain about. With personal finance education only recently introduced into school curriculum, very few of us were lucky to receive any kind of financial education. Instead, most Brits were taught trigonometry and left to fend of themselves on the finance front.

So which areas of finance are we most in the dark about? Here are a few of the top money questions people ask Google, which reveal our problem areas...

1. What is APR?
This is an absolutely critical question. Understanding APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the key to understanding how much using different types of financial product is likely to cost you.

APR doesn't just refer to the interest rate you can expect to pay on a loan, it also takes into account other costs such as arrangement fees (though penalty fees etc. are not included in the calculation.

In very basic terms, a loan with a 22% APR will cost the amount you borrow + 22% of the amount you borrow. If you borrow £1,000, you can expect to repay the loan + £220 (22%), which equals £1,220 in total.

2. What sort of mortgage can I afford?
Who doesn't want to get out of the renting trap and onto the property ladder? But who really understands the type of mortgage products out there? Very few people. The type of mortgage you can afford will depend on your income, your savings and your credit history. There are many affordability calculators out there you can use to glean more insight.

3. Does my student loan affect my credit rating?

Very few people pay off their student loan soon after leaving university. Instead, repayments are based on your income and can last for decades. Although you will pay more interest over longer loan periods, it is low compared to other financial products. Because of these slow repayments, many people worry that their student loan might affect their credit rating. If you took on your loan after 1997, this is not the case.

Which personal finance questions are you unsure about? Don't be shy! Share them with other readers and our money experts below. Let's find some answers!