The purpose of this study was to examine the structure of financial risk components of households. The financial risk of households was assumed to be composed of risk knowledge, risk attitude and risk management behavior. For this study, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to 700 households in Seoul and Kwangju, and there were 495 responses with usable data. The findings showed that income stability had a positive relationship with the level of risk knowledge and risk attitude. Income stability, household debt, age of the youngest child and risk knowledge were found to have direct effects on risky vs. non-risky asset ratio. Income stability, savings, age of the youngest child and risk knowledge also had significant effects on the number of risky assets owned by households. Risk knowledge was the most important determinant of risk management behavior.