Since it's April (Financial Literacy Month), we need to talk about raising "public awareness about the importance of financial literacy." I'm borrowing that phrase from the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization (tinyurl.com/ycyskumv), but I'm all for advocating for the cause -- and not just in April.
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Here's why. As regular readers know, I'm all about financial security in retirement. And what could be more important for retirement than having a strong foundation in financial literacy?
The problem is that only a small percentage of the population is actually prepared to make sound financial decisions. There is simply a lack of knowledge of even the most basic of financial subjects.
When tested, the results are embarrassing. How would you feel about your knowledge if you got 1 out of 3 questions right? That's the score (31%) on a financial literacy test conducted by the America College of Financial Services (2023 Retirement Income Literacy Study of 3,765 Americans ages 50 to 74 -- tinyurl.com/yrpbzxm7).
The 12 topics covered on the test included inflation, life insurance, Social Security, retirement plans, taxes, retirement income, investments and long-term care.
Hopefully, we'll see better results as more high schools start implementing financial literacy programs.
The recently released 2024 Survey of the States (tinyurl.com/3mz8hm4y), conducted by the Council for Economic Education, reported that 28 states now require a student to take a course in economics in order to graduate, an ever-so-slight improvement (three states) from 2022, when the last survey was published.
Thirty-five states require students to take a course in personal finance to graduate, an improvement of 12 states from the 2022 survey. This improvement "will lead to over 10 million additional K-12 students -- 21% of current students -- gaining guaranteed access to this knowledge," according to the Council for Economic Education.
The idea of teaching kids personal finance in high school is embraced by close to 9 out of 10 (88%) adults, according to a National Endowment for Financial Education poll. In fact, 80% said "they wish they [themselves] were required to complete a semester- or yearlong course focused on personal finance education during high school" (tinyurl.com/5ea8se7a).
Math may be an important component. A study commissioned by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and NORC at the University of Chicago examined two questions:
-- Does participating in high levels of both math and financial education have benefits over financial or math education alone?
-- Does having both high math and financial knowledge have benefits over knowledge in only one domain?
According to the study, "boosting both financial and math knowledge may be most effective for fostering positive financial outcomes.
Additionally, "financial and advanced math knowledge should be thought of as complements rather than competitors. Having high levels of both types of knowledge is associated with greater financial behaviors than either math or financial knowledge alone." Read the report, "Insights: Financial Capability," at (tinyurl.com/4fs3ewp3).
If you are not convinced yet, there is another reason for promoting education. Lack of knowledge leads to bad actions. "American workers with a very low level of financial literacy are twice as likely to have decreased their retirement savings and more than four times as likely to have stopped saving for retirement compared to their peers with very high levels of financial literacy," according to the Personal Finance Index, produced by the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (tinyurl.com/66wfh7es).
What does this all mean? Let me offer what I have seen in my 30-plus years of sharing knowledge and decision-making skills through my writing, lecturing and my work.
First, if you think you'll score a failing grade on a financial literacy test, ask yourself if at some time in the future, you will regret not taking the time to learn at least the basics.
Second, if you think you'll ace the exam, congratulations. But be sure you also test yourself on planning and managing your future financial picture. That world runs under a different set of rules. Be careful of overconfidence, especially if you yourself are in the financial services industry and have never retired before.
DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION