A survey conducted at the start of December found, according to its sponsors, that an overwhelming number of Americans are unable to answer some of the most basic questions about borrowing, interest rates, terminology, and even basic math. More troubling is that many Americans admit to making poor decisions with their own personal finances.
Included in the findings was that more than half of the respondents, 54%, could not identify what a subprime mortgage was and that 56% could not identify the credit score as the most important factor in getting a loan.
The Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy released the information, which covered a number of issues, including recent personal financial behavior."Economic illiteracy is at the heart of our current economic crisis," said James Bowers, managing director for CEEL. "As many Americans find themselves knee-deep in mortgages that are far too expensive and that they don't understand, it's troubling to see just how deep our economic illiteracy runs. In fact, our survey shows that a majority of Americans don't understand even the most basic facts about the economic crisis and many don't have the tools to manage their personal finances.
"It is clear that we need to increase personal finance education at all ages so we have better informed employees, borrowers, and voters."
The information is the findings of a telephone survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. among 1,004 adults living in private households in the continental United States. More details can be found at
