Boost Your Income: The Financial Literacy Payoff for 2024

Knowledge is valuable, as the truism goes, but rarely can we put an exact price on it. Luckily, that's not the case with money. In fact, getting up to speed on your financial smarts can put thousands of dollars in your pocket each year — literally.

Analysts at the National Financial Educators Council have just released survey data on how much cash the average American consumer loses because of financial illiteracy. It's a stark result: Across a number of age groups, we miss out on more than $1,600 annually because we weren't sure about managing our personal finances. In 2019, that number was almost $1,300, so we'd do well to brush up on understanding our money systems.

There are all kinds of reasons to get more familiar with personal finance concepts and processes, and not just because you'd like to lighten your student debt load or understand the best way to make a budget for you. Financial literacy can alleviate stress now and keep you chill as you get older. A realistic and rational outlook on money can also help you both earn and save more.

Some of it does come down to getting comfortable with weird vocabulary words, but especially if you're stuck at home during the pandemic, there's no time like the present to reset your relationship with money. That doesn't have to be boring — people have even built escape rooms to educate about saving for retirement. Finances and money tend to scare and stress us out, but with the right approach, your life doesn't have to be that way.