I read an interesting story in USA Today about a new study conducted by The Investor Education Foundation of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA asked 28,000 people questions on five key issues and used the results to produce a state-by-state look at financial capability. The results: people in New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire are the most fiscally responsible in the US.
So if NY, NJ and NH did well, how did other states fare? According to FINRA, Oklahoma and South Dakota were on the bottom. Looking at the national averages it’s kind of shocking. Of those surveyed, one quarter use payday loans or auto-title loans; and 60% don’t have a rainy day fund (at least 3 months savings to cover illness, job loss, etc)! I did a quick comparison of best and worst states against the states with large numbers of underbanked consumers.
Summary of US state's fiscal responsibility - best & worst in comparison to states with large numbers of underbanked
I can see why there have been so many reports recently indicating that people are more concerned about their personal finances. Hopefully knowing about the problem will be the first step to fixing it.
For more on the FINRA study, go to http://usfinancialcapability.org/.
