A large majority of Americans are not being taught basic financial literacy.
According to the latest National Financial Capability Study, about 61% of U.S. adults were never offered financial education, while just over 9% were offered an opportunity for financial education but did not participate.
Combined, this means that about 70% of U.S. adults haven't received any financial education.
Of those who did receive financial education, most reported receiving at least a portion of this information in high school (58%) or college (54%).
Despite increased access to financial information online, the study shows the number of adults who possess basic financial knowledge has been steadily declining over the years.
"The U.S. financial landscape is increasingly complex. New financial products
and services are flooding the markets, complicating people's decision-making process," according to the FINRA Foundation, which conducted the study.
In 2009, 79% of U.S. adults had basic interest rate knowledge -- but in 2021, that percentage had declined to slightly above 70%. Meanwhile, just over 50% of U.S. adults had basic investment risk knowledge in 2009 -- but that dropped to 42.1% in 2021, according to Smartest Dollar, which analyzed the study data.
Geographical factors may play a role in Americans' financial knowledge. According to Ramsey Solutions, 30 states currently require high schools to offer personal finance courses -- but only 17 states have made personal finance a graduation requirement. At the same time, some states have no financial literacy requirements, according to the report.
To determine which states have the highest financial literacy overall, Smartest Dollar analyzed data from the FINRA Foundation and weighed factors including the share of adults with basic knowledge of interest rates, inflation and investment risk.
"States were ranked based on the share of adults with high financial literacy—defined as those who scored higher than the national median score of 42.9% on FINRA's Financial Literacy Quiz," the site said. "States in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest have the largest shares of adults with high financial literacy, with nine out of the top 15 states located in those regions."
Related
The Top 15 Financially Savvy States
1. Wyoming -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 57.0%
2. Minnesota -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 55.9%
3. Alaska -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 55.8%
4. Washington -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 55.6%
5. South Dakota -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 55.3%
6. North Dakota -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 54.7%
7. Hawaii -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 53.5%
8. Utah -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 53.5%
9. Vermont -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 53.4%
10. Oregon -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 53.2%
11. Wisconsin -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 52.3%
12. Montana -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 51.9%
13. Idaho -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 51.0%
14. Connecticut --Share of adults with high financial literacy: 50.7%
15. New Hampshire -- Share of adults with high financial literacy: 50.5%
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