What percentage of US adults are financially literate? (2024)

What percentage of US adults are financially literate?

Only 57% of adults in the United States are financially literate. Missouri, Utah and Virginia boast the best financial literacy rates, while Alaska, Washington, D.C. and South Dakota have the worst financial literacy rates.

What percent of Americans are financially literate?

Only 57% of American adults are financially literate. 73% of teens want a more personal finance education. Americans lose an average of $1,819 annually due to financial illiteracy. 77% of Americans are financially anxious.

What percent of Gen Z is financially literate?

Finding Their Financial Footing

Only 46% of Gen Z feel confident about their financial knowledge, for instance, which is a lower percentage than baby boomers, Gen X, and millennials who said the same.

Are only 33% of adults worldwide financially literate?

Financial Illiteracy: Statistics Overview. Only 33% of adults worldwide are financially literate, meaning 3.5 billion adults globally lack understanding of basic financial concepts, suggesting deep disparities in financial knowledge around the world.

Are rich people more financially literate?

Financial literacy, on the other hand, refers to the knowledge and understanding of various financial concepts, including budgeting, investing, saving, and managing debt. It's important to note that financial literacy doesn't necessarily correlate directly with wealth or income.

How many adults are not financially literate?

Just under two-thirds of Americans (64%) are financial literate, while over one in three (36%) are not. Financially literate Americans are led by Baby Boomers (71%), Gen X (63%), and Millennials (59%) while Gen Z (42%) trails behind.

How many Americans have no financial literacy?

According to a recent survey conducted by Standard & Poor's, only 57% of U.S. adults are financially literate. This was measured by those exhibiting knowledge across the following four basic financial concepts: risk diversification, numeracy, inflation, and compound interest.

What generation is the least financially literate?

Key Insights. Financial literacy tends to be low within each of the five generations, but particularly so among Gen Z. Two-thirds of Gen Z could answer only 50% or less of the index questions correctly. Within Gen Z, financial literacy tends to be lowest among those who have never attended college.

Which generation is the wealthiest?

Millennials stand to become the richest generation in history, after $90 trillion wealth transfer | CNN Business.

Why are most Americans financially illiterate?

In fact, 88% of all Americans said high school did not leave them “fully prepared” for handling money in the real world. This lack of personal finance education in high school has understandably lead to stress over managing finances for all Americans.

What age group in the US is least financially literate?

Generation Z

Thus, those in Gen Z are currently between the ages of about 11 and 26. As might be expected due to their relatively young ages, data shows that Generation Z demonstrates the lowest level of financial literacy among Gen Z, Gen X, boomers and millennials.

Why are most people financially illiterate?

Financial literacy advocates believe too many students don't receive any personal finance education in school, especially those in low-income neighborhoods. Only 12 states require high school students take personal finance as a standalone course to graduate, according to Next Gen Personal Finance.

What country is the most financially literate?

Top 10 countries championing financial literacy worldwide. According to a survey by the Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Global Survey, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden rank the highest on the list of the most financially literate countries.

What is considered financially wealthy?

According to Schwab's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey, Americans perceive an average net worth of $2.2 million as wealthy​​​​. Knight Frank's research indicates that a net worth of $4.4 million is required to be in the top 1% in America, a figure much higher than in countries like Japan, the U.K. and Australia​​.

What is considered financially rich?

Based on that figure, an annual income of $500,000 or more would make you rich. The Economic Policy Institute uses a different baseline to determine who constitutes the top 1% and the top 5%. For 2021, you're in the top 1% if you earn $819,324 or more each year. The top 5% of income earners make $335,891 per year.

How many Americans live paycheck to paycheck?

A 2023 survey conducted by Payroll.org highlighted that 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, a 6% increase from the previous year. In other words, more than three-quarters of Americans struggle to save or invest after paying for their monthly expenses.

What percentage of American adults have no savings?

Nearly one in four (22%) of U.S. adults have no emergency savings at all, Bankrate found—the second-lowest percentage in 13 years of polling. That's especially bad news given that most Americans would need at least six months of emergency savings to feel comfortable day-to-day.

What percentage of adults in America are functionally illiterate?

14% of U.S. adults are considered “functionally illiterate.” 21% of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th-grade level. 19% of high school graduates in the U.S. can't read.

What percentage of Americans have no bank accounts?

Key Findings. An estimated 4.5 percent of U.S. households (approximately 5.9 million) were “unbanked” in 2021, meaning that no one in the household had a checking or savings account at a bank or credit union. The unbanked rate in 2021—4.5 percent—was the lowest since the survey began in 2009.

How many Americans are in debt?

40% of Americans Have Been in Credit Card Debt for More Than 5 Years. The survey found that 47% of Americans have not been debt-free since 2018 to 2022, 14% have not been debt-free since 2013 to 2017, 11% have not been debt-free since 2008 to 2012 and 15% haven't been debt-free since before 2008.

Why is financial literacy declining?

In fact, much of the downward trend in financial literacy can be traced back to respondents increasingly selecting “don't know” as their response option to the underlying questions. The rise in “don't know” responses accounts for 75 percent of the drop in financial knowledge from 2009 to 2021.

Are Gen Z financially savvy?

For example, a new study by the Investment Company Institute (ICI) finds that “Gen Z households have nearly three times more assets in the [retirement] plan accounts (adjusted for inflation) that Gen X households did at the same age.” More Gen Z-ers have retirement plans set up and they've saved more in those accounts.

Is Gen Z more financially literate?

According to the US National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA), Gen Z has the lowest level of financial literacy, with only 28% of questions being answered correctly on average.

Which generation has it the hardest financially?

Gen Zers are having a harder time making ends meet, let alone building wealth. Roughly 38% of Generation Z adults and millennials believe they face more difficulty feeling financially secure than their parents did at the same age, largely due to the economy, according to a recent Bankrate report.

Who has the lowest literacy rate in us?

State with Lowest Literacy Rate

The state of New Mexico has the lowest literacy rate in the United States, with a rate of 70.9%. It is estimated that about 800,000 adults in New Mexico lack basic prose literacy skills.

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