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Are you financially literate?

| April 26, 2016 9:00 PM

April is financial literacy month, and while Americans aren’t flunking, we aren’t exactly excelling.

According to a 2015 study of financial literacy by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, more than 40 percent of U.S. adults rate grade “C” or lower for knowledge of personal finance. Three out of five Americans admit they don’t keep a budget or closely track spending. No wonder we’ve collectively amassed $153 billion in new credit-card debt since 2012. Few listened to the lessons of the recession.

To be fair, we have plenty of company. Roughly two out of three adults worldwide are considered financially illiterate, according to Gallup research reported last November. Of 148 nations surveyed, the U.S. ranks 14th. With a three-way tie for first, the most financially literate countries are Norway, Denmark, and Sweden; followed by the U.K., Netherlands, and Germany.

When you consider the collective effects of personal finance, this is bad news for economies. The more state residents practice good money habits, the better the odds of economic prosperity, investment, tax revenues, and jobs.

So the financial data collector WalletHub compared states and found differences. Idaho, apparently, is neither worst nor best in any category. Data sets examined include savings, credit card debt and spending (as percentage of income), and bankruptcy rates.

Among their findings, 20 percent of Americans spend more than they earn and 54 percent don’t have savings for a rainy day. Overall, Idaho’s financial savvy ranks 35 out of 51. Minnesota ranks best; Missouri, worst. Hawaii ranked lowest in several categories, including debt-to-income ratio and overspending. However, Hawaii also has the lowest housing expense-to-income ratio.

Men scored nearly 10 percent higher than women in financial literacy (worldwide Gallup figures indicate 35 percent of men, and 30 percent of women are financially literate). As one might expect, the more financially literate the household, the higher its income bracket. Increasing age and education levels also corresponded with better financial literacy. Married couples were most financially literate, followed in order by the divorced, widowed, and cohabitating. Never-married singles ranked lowest.

For more information, see Wallethub.com and Gallup.com.

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Sholeh Patrick, J.D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Sholeh@cdapress.com.