The roles of math and financial literacy on financial behavior

Abstract While financial knowledge and math knowledge have been independently associated with financial capability, there is limited research examining their joint roles in individuals’ financial behaviors. Using survey data from US adults drawn from a nationally representative, probability-based US panel, this brief examined the extent to which respondents’ financial and math knowledge are associated with financial behaviors, both in combination and separately. The results indicated that higher levels of financial and math knowledge are associated with better financial behaviors and that high levels of both financial and math knowledge are sometimes associated with better outcomes than either one alone. This suggests that the combination of math and financial knowledge is a useful topic of study for financial wellbeing.