Just 20% of Americans passed a recent Retirement Literacy Quiz, and only 1% received a grade of B. Not one single person got an A, according to The American College, which surveyed retirees and pre-retirees with at least $100,000 in household assets (not including their primary residence).
A huge percentage of the American population is financially illiterate and lacks basic skills in the areas of doing calculations, debt management, and asset building, the National Bureau of Economic Research found.
When asked five multiple-choice questions about topics like interest calculations, mortgage payments and investments, just 39% of adults could answer at least four correctly, according to the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.
And the Securities and Exchange Commission found that “investors have a weak grasp of elementary financial concepts, and lack critical knowledge of ways to avoid investment fraud.”
You may think investment fraud could never happen to you, but the list of people who got snookered by the Bernie Madoff pyramid scheme reads like a Who’s Who of the rich, famous, and powerful.
Which means financial literacy isn’t just “nice to have,” it’s critical to have.
Are you curious what your Financial IQ is? Take this quick 20-question quiz and you’ll get your results immediately, along with the correct answers.
It doesn’t matter how well you do on the quiz because when you finish it, you’ll be much more savvy about personal finance and more competent in handling your money and making wise decisions than the vast majority of people.