Are Your Smart Enough to be a Billionaire?
We’ve put together a quiz to see if you know enough about personal finance to be a billionaire. Take the quiz now! You might be surprised by your results.
Don’t worry — it’s fun! Share your results with your friends and encourage them to find out if they’ve got what it takes to be a billionaire, too.
Today’s national credit card debt averages $7,800 per person. One in every 160 people filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Up to 1 million people had their homes foreclosed in 2011 alone.
We all have the power to reverse these alarming numbers, but the majority of Americans today currently lack the ability to make informed decisions regarding their finances. It’s a problem stemming largely from an absence of education around personal finance — one that has an increasingly detrimental impact on the health of our economy, yet is rarely talked about.
What Is Financial Literacy?
Usually, the term “literacy” is used in reference to reading and writing. However, anyone who is skilled in or has a thorough understanding of a particular subject is considered to be literate in that area.
In this case, financial literacy is the ability to apply the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions regarding finances in a way that ensures long-term financial well-being. This includes everything from the ability to set up and follow a budget, to knowing how to use a credit card responsibly, to understanding how a mortgage loan works.
Unfortunately, studies have found that a huge portion of the American population is, in fact, financially illiterate, and the numbers continue to get worse every year. For instance, the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy regularly conducts a financial literacy survey, and the results continue to be worrisome — in 2008, the average score on the survey was 48 percent. Participants demonstrated they’re clueless when it comes to understanding how to save money, finance large purchases and invest for the future.
The Go Banking Rates Financial Literacy Movement
April has been declared Financial Literacy Month, a time when the issue of financial literacy can be brought to the public eye and for real solutions be offered. As a leading online resource that provides financial guidance to readers on a daily basis, Go Banking Rates is committed to creating heightened awareness of this problem and making financial literacy in our country a top priority for all.
Why? Much of our economy’s recovery is dependent on the people within it to make better decisions with their money and understand the greater implications of their day-to-day choices. At the very least, we need to be confident that our children and grandchildren will learn from our mistakes, rather than repeat them when they’re adults.
We’re all capable of making a difference, but unless we do something about the lack of education surrounding personal finance today, we’re doomed to continue along the downward spiral we’re experiencing right now.
In an effort to spread the word about our Financial Literacy Movement, as well as garner support from both individuals and major media outlets, we’re asking others to take the financial literacy pledge. Put your name on this page to show your support for the movement, as well as share your personal finance story if you’ve got a good one to tell.
Become a Force in Our Movement
If you’d like to partner with Go Banking Rates and ensure Financial Literacy Month is a success, as well as our ongoing commitment to educating Americans, there are a number of ways you can participate and spread the word to make an impact. For more information on how you can partner with Go Banking Rates in our Financial Literacy Movement, contact our Strategic Partnerships Manager, Jaime Catmull.