Financial Literacy for Individuals & Families

A 2012 Bankrate.com survey found that

• 28% of Americans do not have any savings to cover bills in case of emergencies.
  
• Another 21 percent said they had some money saved up, but not even enough to cover three months of expenses.
  

According to the 2012 Consumer Financial Literacy survey:

• If people were facing financial problems related to debt, U.S. adults continue to say they would first turn to their friends and family for help (27%). This year, however, more than one in ten (13% 2012 vs. 8% in 2011) say they would reach out to the lender or credit card company to see what solutions they might be able to offer.
• Compared to 2010 and 2011, U.S. adults are now significantly more likely to feel there are circumstances which may justify defaulting on a mortgage (86% 2012 vs. 82% 2011 and 80% 2010). Specifically, Americans are now more likely to think it’s acceptable to default on a mortgage if the borrower can no longer afford the monthly payment (55% 2012 vs. 49% 2011 and 46% 2010) or needs to relocate (31% 2012 vs. 26% 2011 and 2010).
• Americans continue to learn about personal finance primarily from their parents or at home (44%), yet 4 in 5 adults (80%) – a greater proportion than last year (76% 2011) – admit they could benefit from additional advice and answers to everyday financial questions from a professional. In fact, like last year, many adults (42% 2012, 41% 2011) now give themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finance, marking a statistically significant change from 2010, when as many as nearly 2 in 3 adults (65%) gave themselves an A or B.

Charles Schwab’s 2008 “Parents & Money” survey revealed that:

• Only about one in three parents (34%) have taught their teen how to balance a checkbook, and even fewer (29%) have explained how credit card interest and fees work. 
• While 71% agree that the best way for teens to learn about money is from guided, hands-on experience or their own example, only one in five parents (20%) involves their teen to a great extent in the family’s budgeting and spending decisions.
• 93% American parents with teens worry their teens might make financial missteps such as: overspending or living beyond their means (67%), getting in over their head with credit card debt (65%), failing to save for emergencies (60%), or failing to stick to a budget (57%). And a full third of parents (33%) anticipate their “golden years” will likely involve helping their kids financially. 
• But while the majority of parents consider learning about budgeting (63%) and credit card management (55%) to be more important for today’s teens (than when they themselves were young), far fewer claim to have taught their children these basics (49% and 29%, respectively). 
• More than 67% of parents think that learning about money management, including budgeting, saving and investing, is not one of their teen’s top priorities. However, previous research shows otherwise: 60% of American teens identified it as a top priority in Schwab’s 2007 Teens & Money Survey. 
• More than one in four parents surveyed (28%) are not currently saving for either their own retirement or for their child’s college education. 
• While investing is cited by almost half (49%) of parents as more important for today’s youth to learn about than it was a generation ago, few are teaching their kids about it. Nearly all parents (97%) believe it’s important to teach their teens to save and invest for retirement and almost half (48%) worry that their kids won’t start saving soon enough, yet only 19% have taught their teens how to invest money to make it grow and even fewer (14%) have taught them what a 401(k) plan is. 
• More than two-thirds of parents (69%) admit to feeling less prepared to give their teens advice and guidance about investing than they do the “birds and the bees.”