Delaware is one of nine states to receive a C grade on the 2016 National Report Card on Adult Financial Literacy, released by Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy. The other states are Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island.
John Pelletier, director of Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy, says that even those states earning high grades—none received an A or A+– are merely the best among a group of low-performing states.
“Our report shows that our nation has dramatic room for improvement, so one should not be misled by grades,” notes Pelletier. “For example, while adults in Delaware perform well in important areas like having access to revolving credit and health insurance, they can improve in other areas, like credit card use, student loans and financial knowledge.”
The report card assesses the problem of adult financial illiteracy nationally, and gives grades to each state based on data gleaned from national organizations that track Americans’ financial knowledge, credit, saving and spending, retirement readiness, investing, and levels of insurance.
Fifty-eight percent of Delaware’s grades were C, D or F (41 out of 71 financial literacy grades).
The Champlain College Center’s report card shows that more than three-quarters of adults live in states with poor grades. This means that too many American adults are deficient in financial knowledge and skills, which leads them to make uninformed and often poor decisions about their money.
A former finance executive, Pelletier says the challenge is educating the millions of Americans who misuse credit, don’t save for a rainy day or for retirement, don’t pay their bills on time or have a budget, or know how to invest or plan for the future.
The survey from the Vermont college looked at issues ranging from credit card usage to retirement readiness to student loans.
Minnesota, Utah and North Dakota had the highest overall scores, with Mississipi earning the one F grade.
