Ladies and gentlemen, as advisors in the life planning and retirement arena, you have your work cut out for you.
And based on a recent survey, you likely will enjoy job security for the rest of your career.
The Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Global Financial Literacy Survey is billed as one of the "most extensive global surveys to date of financial literacy," with 150,000 adults in more than 140 countries tested on four basic financial concepts: numeracy, interest compounding, inflation and risk diversification. The researchers aimed to "provide information to academics, regulators, policymakers, and business associations to help them understand people's economic and financial knowledge levels around the world."
The findings paint a fascinating, and yet sad, picture. Worldwide, two-thirds of adults are considered financially illiterate, with the results from most countries showing that men are more literate than women.
The United States ranks 14th overall in financial literacy, behind several Scandinavian countries, Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.
And although the U.S. fares better than most of the world, the research shows that its financial literacy score is just 57%, which is comparable to the scores of Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand and Singapore.
