Americans' Financial Literacy Falls to 10-Year Low, Study Finds
A joint study by TIAA and Stanford University's Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center found that American adults correctly answered only 47 percent of basic financial questions in 2026, the lowest score in the survey's 10-year history. Gen Z adults scored the lowest of any generation at 38 percent. Researchers said misleading social media content and financial system complexity are contributing to the decline.
American adults correctly answered only 47 percent of basic financial questions in 2026, the lowest score in the 10-year history of the TIAA Institute and Stanford University's Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center survey. The result marks a statistically significant drop from the prior year.
The survey, conducted in January 2026 with 3,602 adults, covers eight areas of personal finance: earning, consuming, saving, investing, borrowing, insuring, comprehending risk, and using information sources. Declines were recorded in five of those eight areas.
Gen Z adults, ages 18 to 29, scored the lowest of any generation, answering only 38 percent of questions correctly. Baby boomers scored 54 percent. Women scored six percentage points lower than men overall. Adults with bachelor's degrees answered 61 percent correctly, compared to 30 percent for those without a high school diploma.
The share of Americans with very low financial literacy rose to 25 percent, up from 20 percent in 2017. Comprehending risk was the weakest area across all age groups, with only 36 percent of questions answered correctly.
Surya Kolluri, head of the TIAA Institute, said low financial literacy is directly linked to worse financial outcomes, including higher debt levels and lower retirement savings. He pointed to misleading social media content, weakened overall literacy, and existing financial pressures as possible causes of the decline.
LendingTree's Matt Schulz noted the challenge of sorting good financial advice from bad on social media. "There's an enormous amount of really smart and insightful personal finance information out there, but there's also a sea of garbage," he said.
Workers with very low financial literacy spend nearly 11 hours per week dealing with money issues at work, according to the study.
