SILVER SPRING, Md. — The National Foundation for CreditCounseling and MSN Money 2008 Consumer Financial Literacy Surveyfinds that opportunity still knocks for financial literacyprograms.

The survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research AssociatesInternational, was designed to identify what Americans know abouttheir finances and to assess their overall financial health

“If there were ever a time that Americans needed to embracefinancial literacy, it is now, “said Susan C. Keating,president/CEO of the NFCC, during a congressional briefing onCapitol Hill. “The NFCC is proud to make public the results of thissurvey in hopes that it will be a wake-up call to consumers.”

The survey found that 59% of young adults in Generation Y(defined as ages 18-29) do not pay their bills on time every month.As for the previous generation of consumers, those ages 30-49, theyalso do not appear to be modeling good financial behavior.

Financial experts generally agree that having a household budgetis sound financial management. However, similar to the findingsfrom 2007, only a minority of Americans say they keep close trackof their typical monthly expenses. Although a majority of thepublic has at least a somewhat good idea of where their money goeseach month, nearly two in 10, or roughly 40 million adults, keeplittle or no track at all. Contrary to some stereotypes, howclosely Americans manage their money does not vary by gender, ageor income. Women continue to be as likely as men, younger people aslikely as older people, and lower income households as likely ashigher income ones to keep close track of what they spend.

Another alarm raised by the survey is that the majority ofconsumers do not have sufficient emergency funds, defined as threeto six months of income saved. More than one-third, or roughly 76million adults, say they do not have any nonretirement savings.Although a majority is currently saving for their retirement, morethan one-quarter are not.

The survey also finds that roughly 10 million adults, reportbeing late or missing a mortgage payment in the last year andalmost one-quarter of Americans say they do not know enough aboutowning a home to consider buying one.

As for who has the biggest influence on financial education amajority of consumers says they learned the most about personalfinance from their parents or at home. The results underscore thepotential positive influence parents can have on their childrenfinancially.

“The findings of this study are staggering, especially given thecurrent economic outlook. We conducted this study to get at thecore of what financial issues plague Americans and with thisinformation we are now better equipped to help consumers where theyneed it most,” said Richard Jenkins, editor-in-chief of MSNMoney.

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