An "F" on Personal Finance

Quote from MSNBC article about Teens financial knowledge...

" The average score for the survey was 52.4 percent -- a failing grade in most U.S. schools. Surveys in 2004, 2002 and 2000 also yielded scores in the 50-percent range.

"What we are looking at are students who by any educational standards are flunking the test of their financial lives," said Lewis Mandell, a professor of finance at the State University of New York in Buffalo, who conducted the study for the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. "

Read the entire article

So, I managed to download the quiz that the seniors took, which I probably did worse than the average. Seriously, where was I supposed to learn this from? School, TV, Parents?

For example:

10. If you had a savings account at a bank, which of the following would be correct concerning the interest that you would earn on this account?

13.5% a) Sales tax may be charged on the interest that you earn.
13.0% b) You cannot earn interest until you pass your 18th birthday.
50.9% c) Earnings from savings account interest may not be taxed.
*22.7% d) Income tax may be charged on the interest if your income is high enough.

* indicates correct answer

I definitely did not know that. As you can see, 75% of seniors didn't either. In general, my age group (18-24) doesn't know s@#%^ about personal finance.

One of the exact reasons I started blogging...