Gen Z Got 38% On A National Money Quiz. Play The Family Version Tonight.

Here is a number to bring to dinner: 38 percent.

That is the average score Gen Z adults got on a national personal finance test this year. The test is the TIAA Institute and GFLEC Personal Finance Index, known as the P-Fin Index. It has run every year for a decade, and 2026 was its worst year yet. Adults of all ages answered just 47 percent of the 28 questions correctly, the lowest in the survey's history.

The researchers also released something useful for families: a short, eight question version called the P-Fin 8. One question from each area of money life. Adults who took it scored 46 percent on average. Gen Z scored 38 percent, and nearly half of Gen Z answered two or fewer questions correctly.

If you have a kid heading toward their first job, first bank account or first phone plan, those eight ideas are worth an evening. You do not need the official quiz to teach them. You can build your own version with things your family already buys.

The P-Fin Index tests eight areas of everyday money life:

1. Earning
2. Consuming, meaning spending and budgeting
3. Saving
4. Investing
5. Borrowing and managing debt
6. Insuring
7. Comprehending risk
8. Knowing where to find good information

The 2026 results show declines in five of those eight areas. The weakest area for everyone, at every age, was understanding risk. Only 36 percent of risk questions were answered correctly, and that score barely improves as people get older.

That last point matters for parents. Most money skills get a little better with life experience. Risk does not. If kids do not learn it on purpose, they are unlikely to pick it up along the way.

The report connects low money knowledge to real costs. Workers with very low financial literacy spend nearly 11 hours a week dealing with money problems at work. That is more than a full workday lost to worry and fixing mistakes.

People who had some financial education scored 13 points higher than people who had none. So teaching helps, and it shows up in the numbers.

There is also a clue about where kids learn. In an Intuit survey of 2,000 high school students, 81 percent said their money knowledge comes mainly from their parents or guardians. Only 19 percent turned to social media for money information, and most of those students were not sure they could tell good advice from bad.

In other words, you are the main teacher whether you planned to be or not. The kitchen table is the classroom.

Set aside 30 minutes. Everyone gets a scrap of paper. Read each question out loud, give people 30 seconds, then reveal the answer and talk for a minute. These are family made questions based on the same eight ideas as the P-Fin 8, not the official test.

Round 1: Earning. Maya's pay went up this year. Which is the most likely reason: (a) more people learned her exact skill, (b) she finished a course that made her better at her job, or (c) a new machine now does part of her work? Answer: (b). New skills usually raise pay. More competition or machines that do the work usually push pay down.

Round 2: Budgeting. What is a budget for? (a) Planning what you will spend, (b) keeping a list of everything you own, (c) both. Answer: (a). A budget plans spending. A list of what you own is a different tool.

Round 3: Inflation. Your savings grow 2 percent this year. Prices go up 3 percent. Can you buy more stuff or less stuff at the end of the year? Answer: Less. Your money grew slower than prices, so it buys a little less.

Round 4: Investing. Which is usually safer: owning one company's stock or owning a fund with hundreds of companies? Answer: The fund. If one company has a bad year, the others soften the blow.

Round 5: Debt. You owe $100 on a card that charges 20 percent a year, and you pay nothing. About how long until you owe $200? (a) Under 5 years, (b) 5 to 10 years, (c) more than 10. Answer: Under 5 years. At 20 percent, the balance roughly doubles in about four years. Only 40 percent of adults got the official version of this one right.

Round 6: Insurance. You are 25, healthy and working. What is the biggest money risk to protect against? (a) Not being able to work because of an injury, (b) needing a nursing home. Answer: (a). Your paycheck is your biggest asset at 25. Protecting income comes first. This was the hardest question on the national test.

Round 7: Risk. Game A: 1 in 20 chance to win $20. Game B: 1 in 10,000 chance to win $9,000. Which game pays more on average per play? Answer: Game A. Average value is the chance times the prize. Game A is worth $1 per play. Game B is worth 90 cents. The big prize feels better, but it is the weaker deal.

Round 8: Good advice. Which advice sounds wrong? (a) A 25 year old puts retirement money in a stock index fund, (b) a 78 year old puts all savings into brand new startups. Answer: (b). Someone who needs the money soon should not take the biggest risks.

Count scores at the end. Anyone who got six or more beat most American adults.

Risk was the weakest area on the national test, so give it extra time. Here is a simple activity that works for kids around 9 and up.

1. Grab a coin and a six sided die.
2. Offer two games. Game one: flip the coin, heads wins 10 points. Game two: roll the die, a six wins 40 points.
3. Before playing, ask each person which game they think pays more on average. Write down the guesses.
4. Now do the math together. Coin: half the time you win 10, so about 5 points per play. Die: one sixth of the time you win 40, so about 6.7 points per play.
5. Play each game 20 times and total the points.

Real results will wobble, which is its own lesson. Averages show up over many tries, not in one lucky roll. That is exactly why lottery tickets feel exciting and still lose money.

Young sellers can use the same thinking. If your kid runs a small business, ask them to estimate the chance a customer comes back and what each return visit is worth. Some kids jot this down on paper. Others use a planning tool like Foundra to put prices, costs and customer guesses side by side.

One quiz night is a start. A few small habits make the ideas stick.

Name the idea when it happens. When a price jumps at the store, say "that is inflation." When a card offer shows up in the mail, look at the interest rate together.

Use real numbers from your life. Show your kid a real phone bill or grocery receipt. Ask where the money goes.

Let them make small mistakes early. A $10 mistake at age 12 teaches more than a lecture, and it is far cheaper than a $1,000 mistake at 22.

Retake the quiz in six months. Write new questions from things that happened since. Track who improves.

Ask where the advice came from. The last area of the index is knowing where to find good information. When your teen repeats a money tip from a video, ask who made it and what they gain if you follow it.

What is the P-Fin Index? It is an annual survey by the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center that tests adults on 28 personal finance questions across eight areas. The 2026 edition surveyed 3,602 U.S. adults in January 2026.

How did Gen Z do? Gen Z answered 38 percent of questions correctly on average, the lowest of any generation. On the short P-Fin 8 version, nearly half of Gen Z got two or fewer right.

Can my family take the official quiz? Yes. The TIAA Institute published the P-Fin 8 quiz and answer key as a free PDF, linked in the sources below.

What age is this activity for? The quiz night works for kids around 10 and up. Younger kids can do the coin and die game with help. Teens can handle the debt and insurance rounds with deeper discussion.

Which topic should we start with? Start with risk and debt. Risk was the weakest area for every generation, and compound interest on debt was one of the most missed questions.

1. 2026 P-Fin Index: A Decade of U.S. Financial Literacy, TIAA Institute and GFLEC
2. The P-Fin 8 Index: A concise measure of financial literacy (quiz and answer key), TIAA Institute and GFLEC
3. A decade of tracking financial literacy in America, full insights report, TIAA Institute and GFLEC
4. Financial Literacy Survey: U.S. High School Students Want Financial Education at School, Intuit