Survey: Lack of Financial Literacy Costs Americans over $9,700 across their Lifetimes

Monday, April 3, 2017

LOS ANGELES – The National Financial Educators Council recently released results of a survey about financial knowledge conducted with 3,006 people in six age categories across the US. People were asked, “Across your entire lifetime, about how much money do you think you have lost because you lacked knowledge about personal finances?”

Respondents estimated that their lack of financial knowledge cost them an average of $9,724.83 (calculated by averaging the total number of respondents choosing each category, using the lowest number in each spread).

$0-$999   

36.28%

$1,000-$4,999  

15.32%

$5,000-$14,999    

13.68%

$15,000-$29,999   

10.22%

$30,000+ 

24.52%

View complete survey results at https://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org/financial-illiteracy-costs/

Given that 240 million adults live in the country, these survey results illustrate that lacking financial knowledge would cost Americans collectively more than $2.3 trillion dollars over a lifetime.

Reported lifetime losses over $15,000 were reported by 1 out of 3 respondents, and nearly 1 in 4 people reported losses over $30,000 due to a lack of financial knowledge. Respondents in the 55 – 64-year-old category estimated experiencing the highest losses, with 41.5% believing they had lost $15,000 or more.

Respondents who estimated their losses at $30,000+ broke down by age as follows:

18 – 24     

15.8%

25 – 34     

16%

35 – 44      

25.4%

45 – 54     

28.4%

55 – 64      

32.7%

65+            

28.8%

The 18 – 24 year olds reported the lowest losses, with 42.5% stating that lack of financial knowledge cost them between $0 and $999.

Source: PR Newswire (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Uncategorized
Tags
financial inclusion