Stakeholders across the financial services industry have put a lot of effort into improving the average American's financial literacy in recent years, but the truth is that people continue to struggle with retirement income literacy.
In fact, just one in five Americans earned a passing grade on a retirement quiz conducted recently by a team of researchers at the American College of Financial Services, and the average score was a paltry 31%.
There are some positive signs to be found in the data, according to the researchers, such as the fact that Americans who are older and nearer retirement seem to have at least slightly better knowledge about key financial concepts related to retirement.
There's also good indication that people have a decent sense of their own knowledge levels, and that higher levels of educational and wealth attainment lead to higher levels of "retirement literacy." So does working with an advisor, if only slightly.
Earlier this year, I had the chance to sit down for a podcast interview with two of the academics behind the quiz: Eric Ludwig, director of the Center for Retirement Income and program director for the Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP) program at the American College, and Kaylee Ranck, director of college research.
