Personal Finance Knowledge in America

It is Tax Day, so I imagine a lot of folks have personal finances on their mind. Unfortunately, a recent research survey says I’m probably wrong.

A study from the PEW Research Center  found “about half (54%) of U.S. adults say they know a great deal or a fair amount about personal finances…while 13% say they don’t know much or know nothing at all.”

PEW found that personal finance skills are related to race, age, and income. For example, “U.S. adults with upper incomes are more likely than those with middle or lower incomes to be confident in their ability to perform various financial skills,” like creating a monthly budget or investment plan.

Additionally, Americans are more likely to have learned about personal finance from friends and family than in K-12 school. To ensure that everyone learns the basic skills of personal finance we need to make K-12 programs more widely available and perhaps part of our standard curriculum.

I’m very glad that we have a great resource in Colorado to support this – Junior Achievement. If you are like me and attended high school in the Centennial State, you probably remember an economics class supported with Junior Achievement materials. This organization is still going strong; my kids have recently completed JA classes in their elementary school.

As a researcher, I know that a lot of factors relate to financial health including physical and mental health, life expectancy, generational wealth, and so much more, and I’ll be interested to see how many state legislators will support a new personal finance education bill.