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— 44% said they’re knowledgeable about personal finance.
— 17% said they’re extremely knowledgeable about personal finance.
— 4% said they’re not knowledgeable about personal finance.
— 10% said they first started to understand their finances as a child.
— 36% told us they first started to understand their finances in high school.
— 29% said they first started to understand their finances once they started working.
— 9% told us they first started to understand their finances in university or grad school.
— 42% said they were not taught about personal finance in school.
— 40% said they were taught about personal finance in high school.
— 11% said they were taught about personal finance in college.
— 51% said they had their first “money memory” as a child.
— 27% said they had their first “money memory” in high school.
— 87% of the people who said they weren’t taught about personal finance in school said they wish they had been.
— 95% said people should start learning about personal finance before graduating high school.
- 32% said people should start learning about personal finance in elementary school.
- 35% said people should start learning about personal finance in middle school.
- 28% said people should start learning about personal finance in high school.
— 63% said it’s important to learn about personal finance at home.
— 62% said it’s important to learn about personal finance in school.
— 18% said it’s important to learn about finance at work.
— 26% said they taught themselves the most about personal finance.
— 46% said they were taught the most about personal finance by one of their parents.
- 26% said they were taught the most about personal finance by their mother.
- 20% said they were taught the most by their father.
— 8% said they were taught the most about personal finance by their teachers.
— 58% said they wished they had learned about personal finance earlier in school, compared to a foreign language (21%), playing a musical instrument (10%), algebra (6%), biology (3%), and trigonometry (3%).
— 75% said they do have a savings account.
— 30% of the people who said they have a savings account said they have more than one.
— 26% said they opened their first savings account once they started working.
— 53% said they opened their first savings account before graduating high school or attending college.
— 58% of the people who said they have a savings account said they learned about the bank or financial institution where they have their account from friends or family.
— 29% of the people with savings accounts told us they choose their bank or financial institution’s savings account for low to no fees, followed by easy account opening process (28%), because it was a bank that they already did business with (28%) and customer service (24%).
— 60% said they wished they had opened a savings account earlier.
— Nearly half of the people who said they have a savings account (49%) said they contribute to it every month.
— 24% of the people who told us they have a savings account said they contribute to it every week.
— 67% said they would be happier adding $1,000 to their savings than losing 10 pounds (33%).
— 86% said they would be happier adding $1,000 to their savings than getting an extra day of vacation (14%).
— 91% said they would be happier adding $1,000 to their savings than eating at a fine dining restaurant.
— 88% said they would be happier adding $1,000 to their savings than reading 10 books. More than a third (35%) said they would be happier to treat their pet to something than treat themselves to something.
— 58% said they would rather eat at their favorite restaurant vs buying a new outfit.
— 72% said they would rather eat at their favorite restaurant vs going to the gym.
— 51% said they would rather take an extra day of vacation vs buying a new electronic.
Survey Methodology:
The Financial Literacy 2020 Survey was conducted by Marcus by Goldman Sachs® in March 2020 among 2,516 Americans. Savings accounts defined as savings accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs) and money market accounts.