6/6 right here. That wasn't hard at all!

w00t. Got me a six. The rest of you n00bs need to l2p. :)

How did you have to guess at 2 of them? It seemed like the "quiz" was common sense to me.

I hate taking tests usually though. Asking questions that look for the affirmative, then another that asks for a negative, makes one have to shift their brain's gear 180 and if you're not careful you can make a stupid mistake. Double negatives are the worse.

Much worse if the test has a time limit that makes you want to rush through it.

6/6 That was supposed to be hard?

The 12th graders in that picture have obviously been doing everything that stunts your growth.

6/6. Most of it *should* be common sense. I'm sure most of America would fail this and show how we need to improve education, because this is the kind of stuff that gets us into a 'credit crunch' or the 'housing crisis.'

6 of 6

I'm an idiot in this area and I still got 5/6. My last one was only wrong because I thought it was a trick question...even though technically stocks earn more, there's still more to lose.

5/6. I'll be honest, though -- I don't know crap about personal finance. I can see how, even though this is common sense, you could miss one or two. I mean, #2 would be a guesser if you're not too familiar with the financial stuff.

For instance:
6. Kelly and Pete just squeezed out another kid. Blah blah blah blah. Which of the following tends to have the highest growth over periods of time as long as 18 years?

1. A U.S. government savings bond
2. A savings account
3. A checking account
4. Blockbuster stocks

But hey I guess I overthink these things, which is why I'm not in a financial-related occupation to begin with.

Question 1 is quite bullshit in my option. I don't know any public high school that teaches 12 grade students about credit and financing...

Also the test in general proves nothing when the current state of Americas educated is the lowest in history with mass drop outs and just plain morons.

Is it wrong that I'm doubtful about most 12th graders knowing this? Or is it only after they graduate and go off to college that any common sense regarding finances is lost?

Here's a crib sheet in case you're having any trouble with these questions:

1. Nobody can take a foreign vacation for $6,000. Matt is obviously running drugs.

2. Your stock in Bear Stearns.

3. (2004 answer): Your credit history is irrelevant, as long as you take a loan with a teaser rate.

4. For $12,000, Doug will get a degree in making Krabby Patties and never be able to repay the loan anyway, so it really doesn't matter.

5. If your savings is in a passbook saving account, the rate you earn is already less than inflation and you're an idiot. You should invest in Matt's drug-running business.

6. Unfortunately Pete was Matt's mule and he and Kelly got shot at Miami international airport. Their baby was put in a foster home.

@humphrmi: Just have to say that is great. Good job on bringing it back to reality.

5/6. I took a dive on the last one, too, though I really knew better. Oh, well.

The article said the average score was 52, which is failing in my book. It doesn't seem likely that "most" twelfth-graders passed. I'd be a little surprised if they did.

Also, I must be getting old, 'cause those twelfth-graders look awful young to me!

I agree with everyone else that most 12th graders wouldn't pass this.

@humphrmi: I assure you that all details of my international import/export business are legitimate. Would you mind taking a moment to discuss the matter out back with my assistant?

I do take issue with the 6th question. I know that reading it literally stocks SHOULD be the answer, in general... but in reality that's not necessarily a definite thing.

I also take issue with the idea that most 12th graders can pass this, as well - I graduated from high school summa cum laude and I wouldn't have gotten half that right before my stint as a bank teller last summer. Not to mention the only time anyone tried to teach me anything about finances before college was middle school home ec, in which I learned: make sure when you write a check that the written amount is correct, because the number amount doesn't count. (Interestingly there were tellers I worked with that apparently missed that lesson.)

I got a 6, no problem, but I don't feel that #2 was as important. There are almost always disclaimers about what is and isn't insured when you are purchasing these investments, and I would imagine most state issued debt is relatively safe.

I don't like bonds, I would rather have my money at risk in stocks because I am more afraid of the market leaving me behind and inflation than investment loss. I don't have hard fact to base my fears in.

My high school was a very good school and we didn't learn anything about personal finance and the like. I got 6/6, but I credit that to my parents.

@aprestia: For any 10 year period, stocks have grown in value. That's the reality -- and it is the motivation for long-term investors.

You can test it out, I swear.

Those are some young looking 12th graders. At leat I am not picture illiterate.

Our entire banking and finance industry is one of serveral industries artificially propped up by two things and realistically propped up by one:

1. Lingo, Jargon, and double speak. Make everything hard to understand and you'll have people lining up to pay you money to handle it for them. All of a sudden simple interest becomes compound, APY, API, and Zero % introductory with Adjustable rates.

2. Money. Those with the money loan it out. Those without the money pay more back. I don't mind the practice, it's a simple form of contracts and promises that merely provides great incentives for those with Lots of money to invest in their fellow man. But I definitely think there's a better way than paying bankers 100,000 a year for the privilege.

3. The Real Reason: Math IS hard to understand. Even simple math. And all the transactions, borrowing, and payments must be kept track of. This shouldn't cost nearly as much as it does, and of course the real reason banks and bankers came about in the first place is to liquidate our capital into something that could transcend time and place. I guess us "capitalists" don't like anything that's not making someone rich.

@nequam: You're probably right, though I remember a sad little 401k (IRA?) from my first job powered mainly by stocks that dwindled into nothing (based on advice given to me from the in-house advisor). Stocks just make me nervous, and for as foolish and reckless I can be in other areas of my life, you'd think I'd wear pursed lips and Victorian collars by how conservatively I invest.

Scored a 5 but I highly doubt a 12 grader has a clue about interest rates and finance chargers. This test is bogus.

@Scuba Steve: You sound like a hater. Poor people are usually poor because they dont take any risks and the make bad decisions.

Lending oney is a risk that you might never get back. JUst take a look at the current morgage industry failure. Who's losing more money home owners who bit off more than they can afford or all billions of dollars of loans written off globally.

Just one bank example "UBS announced a $10 billion (5 billion pound) write-down and a massive injection of funds from Singapore and the Middle East, making it the biggest subprime crisis casualty to date among major European banks."

You paint of poor as victims is an appeal to emotion and a fallacy.

yes, the article says an average score of 52%, not 52% passing. I got a 6/6 on financial sense, and a 0/6 on common sense since I scribbled all the answers on a sheet of paper and then had to go back and click the radio buttons.

I agree with Aprestia-- the last question is not a definite.

I'm a 12th grader... 1/6. Goes to show what AP micro/macro economics and gov teaches you... I'm excited for college :P UTexas! HOOK'EM

I scored 3/6 on the first try, then I cheated. Questions are kinda confusing...
Didn't know interest can be taxed as income.

I got a 5 - missed the college loan question, but I'm long since out of school and have no kids, so I don't really feel too bad about that one.

6/6, and there is no way they teach all of this to 12th graders. It would be a "waste" of time as it is not on any standardized testing.

I got all 7 questions right; I'm good at the New Math.

6/6
none of that i learned in high school.
i didn't even get the opportunity to take an economics class in high school... go private education!

I got 5/6. I haven't had to borrow for college.
"Doug must borrow $12,000 to complete his college education. Which of the following would NOT be likely to reduce the finance charge rate?"
I thought it would be the parents taking out a second mortgage, but then I was thinking about the increased financial risk with having the two loans.

When I was in high school, we had Adult Responsibilities and Consumer Math as electives. Of course, the college bound tended not to take them b/c they were taking college prep courses.

@richcreamerybutter: You're right. The 10-year thingy applies to the market as a whole. It does not apply to every individual stock. If there wasn't high risk, there would not be high returns.

@seraphicstar:
Same here, except that I did take one economics class in college. I'm not sure I would have 6/6 when I was in 12th grade.

I would say that "alpha consumer" isn't too sharp.

Now, I'm pretty bad at eyeballing age, but I don't think the kids in that photo are 12th graders.

I just showed this test to a 7th grader (who learned about this stuff recently) and they got 5 out of 6 (they got the college one wrong).

@Mr.Purple:
That's impressive. It's good to hear they are teaching some basic finance to kids. My daughter is in 6th grade and I'm sure she has been taught none of this.

6/6. Back in the day (early 80s Oregon), we had to take a semester of personal finance as a graduation requirement, and this made me think of the tests we took for that.

Of course, there was also the week on How To Keep Your Checkbook Register, complete with damp purple mimeographs. Ah, good times with school-provided inhalant abuse.

6/6. I had to guess at most of the questions, though.

5/6

I missed the college loan question.

6/6, but I wouldn't have learned any of that in high school; as far as I know, there was no course that covered personal finances. I hope that's changed.

In fairness, I took an educated guess on 2) (I know a certificate of deposit is insured, and I assumed the federal stuff was too). I also took a bit of a guess on 6) due to the instability of the stock market over short periods of time.

4) was also a bit of a guess, again based on the fact that the other choices should have lowered in the interest rate.

@sriver: Props on the honesty. *chortle* :()

My high school had a "Consumer Education" class, though I tested out of it. While they do go over loans and insurance and why you don't want to rack up credit card debt, I don't know how much of it actually sinks into the students.

So, yes, there are schools that cover this kind of stuff, but the question is, does it make a difference?

The college one was also kind of poor, because a private college will generally have higher prices, which would translate into higher finance charges. They should have specified a public and private school, costing the same.

I got 6/6 but 2 was an educated guess.

6/6

I wouldn't get very many right back in 12th grade, and I'd say that the majority of my graduating class would do poorly even today. Then again, the majority of them don't read consumerist. 12th graders are dumb, and their parents usually do the financial stuff for them. What a crock. I'm guessing that the next "culture shocker" is how 6th-graders can alphabetically arrange the cranial nerves, yet the working American cannot even arrange their kitchen spices.