People With Greater Financial Literacy Save More

Individuals who scored higher on a financial literacy quiz were more likely to save for retirement and more likely to have savings outside of a retirement plan.

Those with greater financial literacy are more likely to save and plan for retirement, according to TIAA and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center at the George Washington University School of Business.

Eighty-eight percent of those who answered between 76% and 100% of the questions on the Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) correctly save for retirement on a regular basis. By comparison, only 37% of those who answered less than 26% of the questions correctly regularly save for retirement.

Eighty-six percent of those in the first group have additional savings outside of their retirement plan, compared to 34% of the second group, and 63% of the first group usually track their spending, compared to 54% of the second group.

Furthermore, those with greater financial literacy are less likely to be financially fragile; 85% of the first group could come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose in the next month, compared to 25% of the second group.

Borrowing and debt management are the areas where knowledge is the highest, but comprehending risk is where it is the lowest.


“The P-Fin Index is the preeminent annual barometer of Americans’ personal finance knowledge,” says Stephanie Bell-Rose, head of the TIAA Institute. “Understanding the connection between financial literacy and financial wellness was a particular focus this year, to help us create a better roadmap for improving the financial well-being of Americans.”

On average, U.S. adults answered only 51% of the P-Fin Index questions correctly. The survey asked a total of 28 questions on the following topics: earnings, consuming, saving, investing, borrowing and managing debt, insuring, risk and where to find financial advice.

The full report can be downloaded here.

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House Committee Quickly Advances SECURE Act

Like RESA, the SECURE Act contains popular measures to help Americans prepare for their long-term financial future by expanding opportunities to save for retirement in tax-qualified accounts.

The House Ways & Means Committee has advanced the “Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019,” or SECURE Act, making the move less than a week after the bill’s formal introduction.

The vote by the Ways & Means Committee clears the path for full House consideration of the sweeping retirement reform legislation, which has subsumed many provisions of the popular and bipartisan Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019. Industry experts agree that RESA and now the SECURE Act represent the most significant potential changes to the U.S. retirement system to be debated in more than a decade.

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Like RESA, the SECURE Act contains popular measures to help Americans prepare for their long-term financial future by expanding opportunities to save for retirement in tax-qualified accounts; increasing access to lifetime income products that enjoy fiduciary protections; helping savers make informed decisions about the optional annuitization of assets; and otherwise enhancing automatic enrollment and escalation features of workplace retirement plans. The SECURE Act further includes provisions to remove restrictions on small employers’ currently limited ability to band together in a multiple employer plan (open MEP).

In voting to approve the bill for full House consideration, bipartisan members of the committee said they are optimistic about the legislation’s future.

News of the SECURE Act’s House passage comes on the same day that Senators on the Finance Committee reintroduced a version of RESA for their chamber’s consideration. 

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