Carol Ehlers, Human Sciences Specialist in Family Wellbeing and Finance
Welcome to Financial Capability Month 2024! April is recognized as National Financial Capability Month to emphasize the importance of using financial knowledge for financial wellbeing. Iowa consumers can compare themselves to The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) results of its annual opinion poll on the financial well-being of U.S. adults.
The January 2024 Opinion Poll used questions from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s financial well-being scale (https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/financial-well-being-scale/) to identify respondents’ feelings about their financial outlook. Here are the results of the overall data:

• When asked to rate the current quality of their financial life, 46 percent of respondents say it is about what they expected it to be, 31 percent say it is worse than expected and 22 percent say it is better than they expected it to be.
• When asked about being concerned that their money will last, similar proportions of respondents say they are concerned (35 percent) and somewhat concerned (34 percent), while fewer report that they aren’t concerned (29 percent).
• When asked about feelings that they will never have the things they want in life because of money, 46 percent of respondents disagree with the statement, while 25 percent agree with the statement and 28 percent say the statement somewhat describes them.
• When asked whether they are “just getting by” financially, 36 percent of respondents do not feel that way, compared to 35 percent saying the statement somewhat describes them and 27 percent saying the statement does describe their situation.
• When asked about having money left over at the end of the month, 39 percent of respondents say that they do, 27 percent say they sometimes do, and 33 percent say they rarely do.
• When asked whether finances control their life, 38 percent of respondents say finances sometimes control their life, 33 percent say this is rarely or never true and 27 percent say it is always or often true.
  The new data provides general differences in respondents’ views of their current financial well-being compared to their outlook for the future. You can complete the questions from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s financial well-being scale to identify your personal financial outlook.
  According to Carol Ehlers, Human Sciences Specialist in Family Finance with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, “It is important that our community consistently gauges U.S. adults’ sentiments of financial well-being, especially as our field promotes the importance of financial education access, quality, and impact. These results not only serve as a barometer, but also identify where educators, researchers, policymakers and advocates must pivot their efforts to leverage more meaningful and lasting outcomes.”