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An unrecognized barrier to retirement income security: Poor longevity literacy
August 21, 2023Longevity literacy is an understanding of how long people tend to live upon reaching retirement age. It is particularly important since retirement income security requires planning, saving, and preparing for a period that is uncertain in length. Unfortunately, data from… Read More »
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ESG Knowledge and Interest: A study among Householders in 8 countries
July 31, 2023Abstract: In this study, we surveyed over 16,000 respondents in eight countries to collect information on individuals’ preferences for sustainable investing, ownership of ESG investment products, as well as their level of financial literacy, investing sophistication and understanding of topics… Read More »
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Financial wellness programs in the workplace: Evidence from a Fortune 25 company
September 01, 2022Abstract: Financial wellness programs in the workplace are the best ways to reach a vast majority of the adult population. This report is part of a more comprehensive study that focuses on a particular financial wellness program launched by Edelman… Read More »
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Are your employees in good financial shape? Evidence from a Fortune 25 company
July 01, 2022Abstract: Workplace financial education is crucial for helping working adults improve their financial well-being. This report shows the results of a six-week challenge called Fast Track to Financial Health, a joint project between Edelman Financial Engines (EFE) and the George… Read More »
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How financial literacy varies among U.S. adults: The 2022 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index
April 12, 2022Summary: The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) is an ongoing project now in its sixth year that annually assesses financial literacy among the U.S. adult population. The P-Fin Index is unique in its capacity to produce a robust… Read More »
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Using Factor Analysis to Assess Financial Vulnerability in the United States
January 16, 2022Abstract: This paper examines the complex nature of financial vulnerability in the United States through the adoption of factor analysis to identify the underlying constructs of financial security. Using data from the FINRA Foundation’s 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS),… Read More »
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Millennials’ and Gen Z’s Money Management During COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities
November 01, 2021Abstract: The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have not been felt equally among individuals, with millennials and Gen Z among those hit hardest. We examine responses to a novel survey conducted in May 2021 to understand how the pandemic… Read More »
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Financial literacy and well-being in a five generation America: The 2021 TIAA Insitute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index
October 19, 2021Summary: With five years of the Gen Z cohort now over age 18, the U.S. adult population spans five generations. This report uses data from the 2021 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) to compare financial literacy across the… Read More »
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Examining the Barriers to Annuity Ownership for Older Americans
October 05, 2021Abstract: The annuity take-up rate is lower than economic theory predicts.1 Using data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, we conduct an empirical analysis of individuals in the retirement-planning phase of the life cycle (ages 40–61) and individuals of… Read More »
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Financial Anxiety and Stress Among U.S. Adults: New Evidence From a National Survey and Focus Groups
September 14, 2021Summary: The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the deeply rooted financial insecurity that many Americans face. Our research shows that even before the pandemic hit, and at a time of economic expansion, a large share… Read More »
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Financial Resilience in America
August 11, 2021Summary: In this report, we examine the concept and assessment of financial resilience and its associated factors, which include income and cash flow management, debt management, risk protection, and financial literacy. We use longitudinal data from before and after the… Read More »
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How to Strengthen Household Financial Resilience
August 11, 2021Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences have laid bare the deeply rooted financial insecurity many Americans face daily. Many households are highly dependent upon earned income and have little to buffer an income loss due to business shutdowns… Read More »
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Financial Anxiety and Stress among U.S. Households: New Evidence from the National Financial Capability Study and Focus Groups
April 27, 2021Summary: The economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis has brought to light the deeply rooted financial struggles that many Americans face. This paper shows that even before the pandemic, a substantial share of households was already anxious and stressed about… Read More »
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Financial Well-Being and Literacy in the Midst of a Pandemic: The 2021 TIAA Insitute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index
April 04, 2021Summary: The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) is an annual barometer of knowledge and understanding which enable sound financial decision making and effective management of personal finances among U.S. adults. It is unique in its capacity to examine financial… Read More »
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Testing the Use of the Mint App in an Interactive Personal Finance Module (Summary Report)
February 09, 2021Summary: If today’s youth are to be full participants in society, they must be financially literate. To advance understanding of effective financial education methods, the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) conducted an experiment using Mint, a financial improvement tool… Read More »
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Testing the Use of the Mint App in an Interactive Personal Finance Module
February 09, 2021Summary: If today’s youth are to be full participants in society, they must be financially literate. To advance understanding of effective financial education methods, the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) conducted an experiment using Mint, a financial improvement tool… Read More »
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Building Up Financial Literacy and Financial Resilience
December 14, 2020Abstract: This article uses data from the 2020 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance (P-Fin) Index to show that many American families were financially fragile well before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. economy. Financial fragility is particularly severe among specific demographic groups,… Read More »
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Financial Literacy and Wellness Among U.S. Women: Insights on Underrepresented Minority Women
November 17, 2020Summary: The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) provides an annual measure of overall financial literacy among the U.S. adult population, plus a nuanced analysis of personal finance knowledge across eight functional areas. The 2020 P-Fin Index survey was… Read More »
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Are Americans financially resilient to weather COVID-19?
October 26, 2020Introduction: Financial wellness depends, at least in part, on such knowledge, as demonstrated by four years of findings from the TIAA Institute/GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index). In times that are anything but normal—times like today with the COVID-19 pandemic… Read More »
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Financial Literacy, Wellness and Resilience Among African Americans
October 26, 2020Summary: The financial situation of African Americans lags that of the U.S. population as a whole, and of whites in particular. Simple economic indicators illustrate the gap. While 66% of African Americans report that they are doing at least OK… Read More »
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Financial Literacy and Wellness among African-Americans: New Insights from the Personal Finance (P-Fin) Index
June 17, 2020The nation’s 44 million African-Americans account for 13% of the U.S. population and have a significant impact on the economy, with $1.2 trillion in purchases annually. Yet the financial well-being of African-Americans lags that of the U.S. population as a… Read More »
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The 2020 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index: Many Do Not Know What They Do and Do Not Know
April 07, 2020Summary: The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) is an annual barometer of knowledge and understanding which enable sound financial decision making and effective management of personal finances among U.S. adults. It is unique in its capacity to examine financial… Read More »
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Millennials and money: The state of their financial management and how workplaces can help them
February 25, 2020Summary: Millennials (individuals age 18–37 in 2018) are the largest, most highly educated, and most diverse generation in U.S. history. Millennials are making financial decisions that will likely shape the future of the U.S. economy for the next 30 years,… Read More »
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Millennial mobile payment Users: A look into their personal finances and financial behavior
February 17, 2020Abstract The financial technology (fintech) sector is revolutionizing traditional financial practices, yet little information exists on the users of these services. In this study, we examine untapped information from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study and the 2016 GFLEC Mobile… Read More »
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Household Financial Behavior: What Banking Data Can Tell Us, If We Ask
January 03, 2020Watch the video.
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Methodological Challenges and Advances in Evaluating Financial Literacy Interventions
January 03, 2020Watch the video.
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Financial Literacy and Wellness among African-Americans: New Insights from the Personal Finance (P-Fin) Index
November 20, 2019Forthcoming in the Journal of Retirement The nation’s 44 million African-Americans account for 13% of the U.S. population and have a significant impact on the economy, with $1.2 trillion in purchases annually. Yet the financial well-being of African-Americans lags that… Read More »
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New Evidence on the Financial Knowledge and Characteristics of Investors
October 09, 2019Abstract: Increased individual responsibility for retirement saving and investing, together with the growing complexity of financial products, require that investors have financial knowledge and awareness. This report provides evidence of substantial differences across investor types. Workplace-only investors, whose exposure to… Read More »
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Defined Contribution Plans and the Challenge of Financial Illiteracy
June 13, 2019Abstract: Retirement investing in the United States has changed dramatically. The classic defined-benefit (DB) plan has largely been replaced by the defined-contribution (DC) plan. With the latter, individual employees’ decisions about how much to save for retirement and how to… Read More »
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Defined Contribution Plans and the Challenge of Financial Illiteracy
June 13, 2019Abstract: Retirement investing in the United States has changed dramatically. The classic defined-benefit (DB) plan has largely been replaced by the defined-contribution (DC) plan. With the latter, individual employees’ decisions about how much to save for retirement and how to… Read More »
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Millennials’ Engagement with Online Financial Education Resources and Tools: New Survey Insights and Recommendations
May 01, 2019In today’s economy, individuals—sometimes at an early age—are required to make important and complex financial decisions, many of them with long-lasting consequences. In executing these decisions, people may tap into many resources, including ones online. For those aiming to expand… Read More »
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Financial Fragility Among Middle-Income Households: Evidence Beyond Asset Building
April 08, 2019Abstract: Several years after the financial crisis, financial fragility is not only pervasive in the U.S economy but also prevalent among middle-income households. This highlights the need to consider more than asset levels in order to understand household financial resilience. In… Read More »
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Financial Literacy in the United States and Its Link to Financial Wellness: The 2019 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index
April 02, 2019The 2019 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) represents the third wave of a long-term project to annually assess financial literacy among the U.S. adult population. The P-Fin Index is unique in its capacity to produce a robust measure… Read More »
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Millennial Financial Literacy and Fin-tech Use: Who Knows What in the Digital Era
September 12, 2018Summary: Using an oversample of Gen Y in the 2018 wave of the TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index), this report examines the financial literacy of millennials and how they engage with fin-tech, i.e., use smartphones for financial purposes.
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An Analysis of Financial Literacy Among Italian Students
August 03, 2018Summary: Youth today confront an economic climate that imposes individual financial responsibility at levels greater than in the past. The financial literacy assessment within the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) provides an international measure of students’ preparedness for the… Read More »
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Financial Fragility: Evidence and Implications
April 15, 2018To read the National Endowment for Financial Education's Summer 2018 Digest, which features GFLEC's research on financial fragility as its covers story, click here. This research was supported by NEFE.
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Financial Fragility in the U.S.: Evidence and Implications
April 15, 2018Summary: The capacity to cope with unexpected expenses is a crucial component of financial wellbeing. The lack of such preparedness is like balancing on a beam—a shock or unexpected financial adversity can immediately shake one off and it is hard to… Read More »
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Financial Fragility in the U.S.: Evidence and Implications
April 15, 2018Abstract: This project examines financial fragility in the United States, which is measured as individuals’ ability to cope with unexpected expenses. Using data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study and the 2015 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, we… Read More »
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The 2018 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index: The State of Financial Literacy Among U.S. Adults
April 04, 2018Summary: The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) is an annual barometer of knowledge and understanding which enable sound financial decision making and effective management of personal finances among U.S. adults. It is unique in its capacity to examine financial… Read More »
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Color and Credit: Race, Regulation, and the Quality of Financial Services
February 22, 2018Watch the video.
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Financial Literacy Among U.S. Hispanics: New Insights from the Personal Finance (P-Fin) Index
October 13, 2017Summary: This report uses the inaugural wave of the TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) to examine financial literacy among Hispanics. A more refined understanding of Hispanic financial literacy could accelerate initiatives to improve their financial well-being.Personal finance knowledge… Read More »
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The Gender Gap in Financial Literacy: A Global Perspective
July 11, 2017Summary: Financial literacy is a skill that is essential if one is to participate in today’s economy. Wide-ranging developments in the financial marketplace have contributed to growing concerns about the level of financial literacy of citizens of many countries. Through… Read More »
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The Gender Gap in Financial Literacy: A Global Perspective
July 11, 2017Summary: With data on financial literacy from a survey of more than 150,000 people in 140 economies worldwide, the 2014 Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services Global Financial Literacy Survey (S&P Global FinLit Survey) represents the most comprehensive global measure of… Read More »