The Long and the Short of It: Financial Fragility in America

A person using a calculator next to a stack of invoices and a binder on a wooden table, representing financial calculations and bookkeeping.

While Americans’ long-term financial security is essential, a target deserving of equal – if not more – attention has been overlooked, namely short-term financial security. A large number of U.S. households are financially fragile today, and their well-being as well as that of the entire economy rests on households’ capacity to deal with shocks.Read More

A Financial Literacy Test That Works

A person in a blue shirt is writing on a stack of papers with a pen, suggesting work or study.

Brokers, financial advice providers, and many others need to test peoples’ ability to manage their money. Nevertheless, there are some who debate such tests arguing that they aren’t useful for predicting behavior. But our work has confirmed that there actually IS a short and very effective diagnostic financial literacy test that can be used to measure financial know-how and predict behavior.Read More