This paper and brief, authored by Jeremy Burke, J. Michael Collins, and Carly Urban, estimates the causal effect of required high school financial education on the financial well-being of young adults. Financial well-being includes people’s subjective sense of financial management, as well as their confidence in achieving their unique financial goals. This study shows that financial education improves financial well-being, though benefits accrue primarily to men and those who obtain college degrees.

This paper and brief, authored by Jeremy Burke, J. Michael Collins, and Carly Urban, estimates the causal effect of required high school financial education on the financial well-being of young adults. Financial well-being includes people’s subjective sense of financial management, as well as their confidence in achieving their unique financial goals. This study shows that financial education improves financial well-being, though benefits accrue primarily to men and those who obtain college degrees. The research was supported by a grant from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.