March 2017
Summary: The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) measures knowledge and understanding which enable sound financial decision-making and effective management of personal finances. It is unique in its capacity to examine financial literacy across eight areas of personal finance in which individuals routinely function, as well as providing a robust indicator of overall personal finance knowledge and understanding. U.S. adults are split 50/50 between those who could and those who could not answer over one-half of the P-Fin Index questions correctly. Sixteen percent of Americans demonstrated a relatively high level of personal finance knowledge and understanding, i.e., they answered over 75% of the index questions correctly. Twenty percent have a relatively low level of knowledge and understanding, answering 25% or less of the questions correctly.