近三分之二的美国人缺乏金融常识，连利息都算不对

问：假如你贷款1000美元，利率是20%，一年你应该付多少利息？

答案是200美元。答错了也没关系，弄不清的不只你一个。新近一项研究显示，将近三分之二的美国人都算不好利息，约三分之一的人甚至不知道怎么算。

近日新发布的一项调研结果中估计，将近三分之二美国人的基本理财知识测试不过关，说明他们在五道测试题中答对的题目不超过四题。更糟的是，自金融危机以来，测试合格者占比持续下降，从2009年的42%降至去年的37%。

以上发现来自FINRA基金会的全国理财能力研究，共调查了27,564名美国人，历时从去年6月到同年9月。FINRA是证券经纪人和华尔街银行的半官方监管机构。

债券是调查对象了解最少的领域。只有28%的受访者知道，债券的收益率下跌时价格如何变化（价格上涨）。能回答简单财务风险问题的受访人不足一半。

除了理财常识，研究还发现，许多美国人已经从金融危机的打击中恢复元气。表示每月支付开销毫无困难的受访者占比增长12个百分点，由2009年的36%增至去年的48%。准备了应急资金的受访者占比由35%增至46%。此外，研究发现，半数以上使用信用卡的受访者自称每月付清帐单，占比为开展此项调查以来最高。

然而，研究还显示，尽管金融危机已过去八年，仍有相当一部分人——包括不少非裔、西班牙裔、女性、2000年左右成年的所谓“千禧一代”和高中以下学历的人经济状况不如经济衰退以前。

女性更有可能因为花费高推迟接受医疗服务，比如看医生、购买处方药或者接受治疗。研究显示，超过五分之一，即21%的美国人未能偿还医疗债务。

少数族裔方面，39%的非裔美国人和34%的拉丁裔通过当铺、发薪日短贷等高成本方式融资，采用同类方式借款的白人和亚裔占比为21%。

和前辈不同，29%的千禧一代——18到34岁美国人表示有拖欠房贷的情况。35岁到45岁拖欠房贷的有16%。45%的无大学学历受访者称，一旦发生紧急情况需要一个月内拿出2000美元，他们做不到。

“这项研究凸显了以创新方式提高消费者常识的需求很大，要提供必要的工具和教育切实帮助他们，”FINRA基金会主席理查德·凯彻姆在一份新闻稿中表示，“我希望决策者、研究者和拥护者运用研究发现，想清楚如何用最合适的方式服务理财知识匮乏的人们。”

虽然美国经济自大萧条以来已整体反弹，但德意志银行认为，美国重陷衰退的几率仍有60%，部分原因是长期和短期债券的息差一直在收窄。

在女性就业方面，《财富》此前报道称，尽管随着女性就业者增多，失业率有所下降，但女性失业者人数整体还是超过了经济衰退前几个月的水平。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校:夏林

Quick: If you take out a $1000 loan that has a 20% rate, how much will you owe a year in interest?

Answer: $200. But if you got that wrong, you’re not alone. Nearly two thirds of Americans can’t calculate interest payments correctly, according to a new study. About a third said they didn’t even know how.

All told, a new study, which was released today, estimated that nearly two-thirds of Americans couldn’t pass a basic financial literacy test, meaning they got fewer than four answers correct on a five-question quiz. Worse, the percentage of those who can pass the test has fallen consistently since the financial crisis to 37% last year, from 42% in 2009.

These findings come from the National Capability Study by the FINRA Foundation, which surveyed 27,564 Americans, from June through October of last year. FINRA is a quasi-government organization that regulates brokers and Wall Street.

Bonds presented one of the biggest problems for respondents of the survey. Just 28% knew what happens to bond prices when interest rates fall. (They rise.) And less than half of all Americans appear to be able to answer basic questions about financial risk.

Beyond financial literacy, the study found that many Americans have recovered from the financial crisis. Respondents to the survey who reported no difficulty in covering monthly expenses and bills increased 12 percentage points, to 48% in 2015 from 36% in 2009. The percentage of respondents with emergency funds has increased to 46% from 35% in the same years. Additionally, more than half of those using credit cards reported that they pay off their balance each month—the highest percentage since the survey began, the study found.

However, the study also showed that even eight years after the financial crisis, significant segments of the population, including African-Americans, Hispanics, women, Millennials, and people lacking a high school education—so a lot of people—are still worse off then before the recession.

Women are more likely to put off medical services like seeing a doctor, buying prescriptions, or undergoing a medical procedure due to cost. This leaves more than one in five Americans, or 21%, with unpaid medical debt, according to the study.

As for minorities, 39% of blacks and 34% of Latinos have used such high-cost forms of borrowing as pawn shops and payday loans, compared with 21% of whites and 21% of Asians.

And unlike their predecessors, 29% of Millennials, who are 18 to 34, said they had been tardy paying their mortgage, vs. 16% of those ages 35 to 54. And 45% of all respondents with no college education said that if they had an emergency requiring them to pull together $2,000 within a month, they wouldn’t be able to do so.

“This research underscores the critical need for innovative strategies to equip consumers with the tools and education required to effectively manage their financial lives,” said FINRA Foundation Chairman Richard Ketchum in a press release. “My hope is that policymakers, researchers, and advocates will use these findings to make more informed decisions about how to best reach underserved populations.”

Despite the overall rebound from the Great Recession, Deutsche Bank -1.06% says there’s a 60% chance the U.S. is headed back into a recession, partly due to the fact that the difference between yields for long-term and short-term bonds has been shrinking.

As for women, Fortune previously reported that although the increase in the number of women employed has pushed down the female unemployment rate, joblessness among women overall is higher than what it was in the months leading up to the downturn.