Fin-lit survey results 'disheartening'

WASHINGTON (4/28/09)--About 41% of adults say they'd give themselves a C, D or F on financial literacy, according to the 2009 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey.

Complete results of the survey are scheduled to be unveiled today at a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill. One thousand adults age 18 and older participated in the survey.

Other findings:

26% admitted to not paying all of their bills on time;
32% reported that they have no savings; and
33% said they do not put any part of their income toward retirement; up from 28% in 2008.

The report indicated that if the survey results were applied to the general population, it would show that more than 58 million adults do not pay their bills on time, 72 million have no savings, and more than 74 million do not put any part of their income toward retirement.

"These results are disheartening, but certainly not surprising," said Jim Hanson, vice president of the Credit Union National Association's (CUNA) Personal Finance department. "We know that financial literacy challenges are significant among all consumer demographic groups, not just among youth or new immigrants. And while there is no shortage of financial education materials available to consumers, the issue has often been about creating demand for financial education.

"In today's economic market, the demand should certainly be there. Educating consumers about wise money management won't happen overnight. It's a marathon, not a sprint," he added.

The phone survey is conducted annually to gauge the financial literacy of Americans. The results were tracked by sex, age, ethnicity, income level, geographic region, and education and tracked over the three-year period, when available.

In 2006, CUNA formed a Financial Literacy Task Force, which hosted a financial literacy summit in its inaugural year and has issued a report on improving member financial literacy. To see the full report, use the link.

courtesy of cuna.org