By: Laura Walton AFC®
But you can find out what you don’t know with just a few clicks. Nearly 25,000 people from all 50 states have completed the National Financial Literacy Test – a 30 question test designed to measure participants’ ability to earn, save and grow their money. The average score to date is 64.26%.
April is Financial Literacy Month. Of course, financial education is an important piece of the work of the TCI Foundation but it doesn’t stand alone. Financial literacy is most powerful when combined with motivation and advising (coaching) in our program, the 3rd Decade™, and we’ve got the results to prove it.
The National Financial Educators Council offers and tracks the results of 4 different tests:
National Financial Capability Test
Advanced Financial Education Test
Financial Foundations Decision Test
Student Loan Test
I see that Arizona underperformed surrounding states in the Age 15-18 category: 285 individuals scored an average of 58.18% on the test.
With age comes wisdom:
The 3 most missed questions as of March 2018:
1) If I invest $100 per month starting at age 21, and that money earns a 7% annual return, how much will I have after 70 years?
31.81% answered correctly: “More than 1.5 million dollars”
(2) How can I start setting personal goals now?
37.12% answered correctly: “Daydream, think about and/or research the type of lifestyle you want to live, and write down ideas.”
(3) What is the safest initial step that I can take to start building my credit?
45.27% answered correctly: “Create a credit plan that includes a budget, money set aside for emergencies, and the steps you’ll take to prove to the credit bureaus that you can repay money you borrow.“
Nothing to lose – try your hand at one or more of the tests and see how you compare!