Financial Literacy Emergency: U.S. Adults Answer Only 49 Percent of Basic Finance Questions Correctly

U.S. adults answered only 49 percent of questions correctly on the TIAA Institute Personal Finance Index in 2025, a level that has not improved in nine years.

A separate FINRA National Financial Capability Study found that only 27 percent of Americans passed a seven-question quiz on inflation, interest, risk, and debt. The average score was 3.3 out of 7.

The data points to what some experts are calling a financial literacy emergency heading into 2026. The gap between perceived and actual financial knowledge is striking: 64 percent of Americans rate their own financial knowledge as "high," yet quiz scores tell a different story.

The P-Fin Index reveals significant disparities. Men averaged 53 percent correct, while women averaged 45 percent. Black and Hispanic adults scored 38 to 39 percent correct, compared to 53 percent for White adults and 55 percent for Asian adults. Generation Z scored only 38 percent right.

Individuals with very low financial literacy are twice as likely to report that debt hinders other priorities, three times more likely to be unable to find $2,000 in an emergency, and eight times more likely to spend 20 or more hours weekly dealing with money problems.

No U.S. state mandates financial literacy education with the same rigor as other core subjects. The average high school student receives only about 18 hours of personal finance instruction over four years.

In response, the Financial Literacy and Education Commission is updating the U.S. National Strategy for Financial Literacy. The Trump administration also announced "Trump Accounts," tax-advantaged investment accounts for children under 18, set to launch in July 2026.