Consumers Ailing from Financial Illiteracy

Survey says:

There's an epidemic sweeping thenation that medicine can't cure.A new surveyby the Consumer Literacy Consortiumshows that many American consumers arefinancially illiterate when it comes to savingmoney. The more than 1000 adults whoparticipated in the true-false survey answeredbasic questions about such topicsas auto insurance, bank investments (eg,stocks, bonds, and mutual funds), creditcard finances, home mortgages, and lifeinsurance. Today's consumersknow a lot about comparison shopping attheir local grocery store, but little aboutsaving money on prescriptions at thepharmacy. For example, almost 46% ofrespondents weren't aware that pharmaciessometimes charge different prices forthe same prescription drug. If you don'tthink financial illiteracy is a serious issue,consider that billions of dollars are wastedevery year by consumers who lackbasic savings sense. To check out theconsortium's financial literacy brochure,visit www.66ways.org.