{"id":3281,"date":"2026-06-02T14:19:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3281"},"modified":"2026-06-02T14:19:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:19:31","slug":"more-than-half-of-americans-are-not-financially-literate-survey-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3281","title":{"rendered":"More than half of Americans are not financially literate, survey finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Americans\u2019 financial literacy is dangerously low amid a whirlwind of\u00a0rising costs\u00a0and\u00a0economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Some 51 percent of U.S. adults\u00a0failed to answer a series of basic personal finance questions\u00a0correctly in a survey conducted by the\u00a0financial services\u00a0company TIAA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The questions, which assess\u00a0financial literacy\u00a0based on eight factors, reveal that the average person\u2019s understanding of financial concepts is up 1 percentage point since 2024 but remains the same as it was when the study started in 2017.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cMany individuals function with a poor level of financial literacy, which can diminish their financial well-being,\u201d the study\u00a0said. \u201cFinancial literacy in the U.S. is stagnant at the generally low levels that existed eight years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In the nine years that TIAA has done the study, financial literacy has exceeded 50 percent only twice: 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/ODBbFE0D6k07Y2D5w1ihqA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_independent_635\/a81295ea1fc3e38567ce1de0e9c629f1\" alt=\"For seven out of the past nine years, American financial literacy has fallen below 51 percent (Getty)\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"13\" data-y-link-id=\"1f6oze309ghj8q0inoc1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div>For seven out of the past nine years, American financial literacy has fallen below 51 percent (Getty)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Respondents showed growth in only two areas of the study &#8211; saving (53 percent to 56 percent) and go-to info sources (47 percent to 48 percent).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Certain demographics struggled more than others. The lowest scores were found among women, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans and Gen Z, the study said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The country\u2019s lack of collective financial understanding can seriously impact consumers\u2019 finances, the study said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIndividuals with greater financial literacy tend to have better personal finance outcomes compared with those with lesser financial literacy,\u201d the study said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Those \u201cbetter financial outcomes\u201d are estimated at $245 billion, according to a December\u00a0survey\u00a0from the National Financial Educators Council. Some 14.6 percent of respondents said they believe their lack of financial savvy cost them more than $2,500 in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cFinancial illiteracy has become an epidemic in this country,\u201d council CEO Vince Shorb said in a statement. \u201cWe need to start teaching comprehensive financial education to children early in life, so that all Americans have the knowledge they need to make the financial decisions they&#8217;ll face in the changing economic world.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4\">\n<div class=\"iframely-embed\">\n<div class=\"iframely-responsive\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/iframely.publishing.yahoo.net\/irauqya4?app=1&amp;v=1\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Resolving the country\u2019s failing financial literacy requires a three-fold solution that focuses on education, TIAA said, particularly among younger consumers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt\u2019s important to equip young people with the knowledge necessary to make the many financial decisions they\u2019ll face in life,\u201d the study said. \u201cOne way is to promote financial education in primary and secondary education.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4\">\n<div id=\"recirc-4821d0ff-6634-3631-9108-acd387e65027\" class=\"mb-4\">\n<div class=\"grid gap-4 lg:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-rows-[auto_auto_1fr]\">\n<div class=\"relative w-full\">\n<div id=\"_r_hj_\" class=\"absolute inset-0 rounded-[4px] focus-within:ring-2 focus-within:ring-link\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Programs and initiatives designed specifically for populations with the lowest literacy scores are critical, too, TIAA noted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Attention must be paid to the average person\u2019s ability to comprehend risk, the study said. Risk involves many areas of finance, including saving, investing and insurance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cImproved functional knowledge in this realm could have significant financial benefits for many,\u201d the study said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Americans\u2019 financial literacy is dangerously low amid a whirlwind of\u00a0rising costs\u00a0and\u00a0economic uncertainty. Some 51 percent of U.S. adults\u00a0failed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3284,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3281\/revisions\/3284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}