Janet sent me this fun quiz.
With Americans focused too much on their credit scores
it seems that they haven’t a clue about their overall financial
wellness. How financially fit are you? How
does your score compare to other test-takers? Have some fun with this quiz. It just might be the wake-up call we all need to get financially
fit.
I found the quiz very interesting to take and was surprised to score 98% on it. I am guessing that not owning a home was one of the biggest marks against us being at 100%–though in the current life situation and housing market we’re in, we feel like saving up to pay 100% down is a much better plan, even if most people think we’re nuts to be doing something so radical.
My husband and I have worked very hard over the past few years to be in good financial shape, but
taking this quiz reminded me just how much driving old cars, packing sack lunches, shopping at thrift stores, living in a basement apartment, eating off the dollar menu, and all the other "counter-cultural" things we’ve done over the past five years of our marriage have paid off. Lord-willing, in another few years we’ll own our own home outright and score 100% on the quiz!
If you take the quiz, tell us how you scored. And please don’t feel badly if you have a low score. If I were to have done this quiz three years ago when we were barely making ends meet, I’m sure my score results would have looked much differently. So, as long as you are working hard to be in a better position financially, take heart, it will pay off!
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{ 69 comments... read them below or add one }
Thanks for sharing this. We scored a 97%; not owning a house counted against us.
We scored a 94, mostly because we don’t contribute to our child’s education fund (not sure we believe in these- college (generally)teaches one to be an employee, and it is the business owner that makes the better wage (again, in general)see “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” for more), and because we are not 100% confident with our retirement. Considering our retirement is invested in American dollars in a shaky American stock market, I think it is wise not to be 100% happy with our investments!
On an up side, we are debt free, INCLUDING our home. The scrimping, saving, long hours- in short- sacrifice was worth it!!!! Keep on keeping on, it pays off in the end.
96% here. Pretty proud myself. Living like no one else so that you can live like no one else is going to be wonderful.
I got 91% and the areas that brought me down are areas that we’re already working on. It’s good to know that we’re on the right track.
I scored 94% as well. And I felt it was due to not contributing to our chidren’s education. Eventually, we would like to do that, but with toddlers right now, we are prioritizing our spending and saving in other areas.
FoxFire: I disagree with some of the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” mentality (well, at least the premise that debt is a tool, etc.), but I *do* think that we would be wise to train our children up to not be so dependent upon others for wages.
This is one reason we are investing for our children’s futures but we’ve not ear-marked it specifically for college as we don’t see the likelihood that all of our children will go to college (Did anyone just fall out of their chair?! Yes, we’re pretty counter-cultural here!). Rather, we desire to encourage our children to prayerfully seek the Lord for His calling in their lives. Whether that means starting a business, being involved in ministry, learning under Godly mentors, internships, special training, or college, we want to be open to how God is leading them and not just follow along with the crowd.
Our desire for investing for them is that if they show themselves responsible, we want to help assist them by funding some of their business start-up, or matching their car savings, etc.
I scored a 98% as well. I’m 29 and my husband and I are debt free (including the house.) I think being a Dave fan hinders you from achieving the 100%. I’m not interested in paying for credit monitoring (although we do check our reports annually for free to check for fraud.) Hubby and I could care less about our “I love debt score.” Keep on trucking Crystal. We may be “weird” but I can tell you I’d rather be “weird” (especially during these times than being your “typical” American and stressed out!
94% due to only having one month’s income in savings and being loyal to our local insurance company and not shopping around. It’s a small town, so we feel connected to the people there.
I scored a 95%. We need to finish paying off our house, write a will, and contribute more to savings.
I scored an 83%, which I was pretty happy about (I figured it would be in the 70s)! With any luck in 12 months I’ll be able to redo the quiz and score in the 90s as I tackle some of the issues mentioned in the quiz!
We scored a 95%, which I’m happy with. We need to do a will and shop around for car insurance. My husband emigrated here 5 years ago and we went with our family’s insurance broker, because he counted my husband’s long driving history rather than his short time as a U.S. license holder. But he’s been here long enough now that I should shop around.
Also, we *only* have 4 months of living expenses in our E-fund. I’m happy with that and we’re concentrating our savings for a down payment when we sell our condo and buy a house.
I got a 96%, probably because of the student loans.
I think a lot of people are afraid to post if they’re not one of the ones in the upper-90s. I got an 84 and am surprised it was that high. We’ve had some medical emergencies, several LARGE car repairs (the one negative to older cars!) and a couple of unplanned trips to visit family that have really set us back. We’re very discouraged right now! We have one (small) income and had 3 kids in diapers for 18 months until my son FINALLY potty trained this month… now it’s just the twins. My husband’s actually home sick today from the anxiety of it all after breaking down on the side of the road to the tune of $1600 yesterday (for a car that’s worth MAYBE $2,000 total). So to those of you who are making the savings thing work, DON’T GIVE UP! It’s NOT worth it to be on the other side… trust me!
98%. Writing a will is on our radar, but we haven’t gotten around to it.
We scored at 89%. We are knee deep in debt and only have 1 months expenses in our emergency fund. Like many of you, I look forward to retaking this in 12 months to see how our score increases.
I scored a 96%…our budget is in my head, and I need to put it down on paper!
Ugh!! I scored an 87%…but at least I know where I really need to get things taken care of now…thanks for the link, Crystal!
MoneySavingMom,
I hear you on RDPD. He and Dave don’t see eye to eye on everything for sure. One thing I do appreciate about RDPD is that he challenges me to think outside the box in ways I’ve never heard before.
Dave has an awesome ministry (we are graduates of FPU) and is helping so many people in so many ways.
We, like you, want our children to be able to do what they are called to do, not just follow the crowd. Anyhow, like I said we aren’t sure about these (especially since they are usually tied to the stock market), but we could probably stand to do more research.
Thanks for all you do here, and for posting the test.
FoxFire
Oh! This was an eye opener. We scored a 69% !!! I think I have some work to do.
94%. Retirement could use some work. I’m 28 and my husband is 30.
I got an 83. Better than I thought considering the debt we have. It was a good reminder that we are heading in the right direction.
I scored 96%. I don’t have a will, and I’m not 100% happy with my retirement investments. I’m 29 and I work as a public servant, so I don’t get a 401k, etc, etc.
I scored a “B” on the BillsIQ. Did you guys read the tips, they were right on for me (and free… thanks Bills.com!)
I need to start a 401k or an IRA and pay down my debts, something I always knew but this quiz kick started me to do something.
I forwarded it to my friends; I’ll be I’m the highest, because they are all in debt:
http://www.bills.com/iq/
Well, we scored an 89%. Things that are holding us up are our attitude toward retirement – hello, I’m only 26 and have a number of decades of being a mom, finishing my masters’ degrees, and working. DH is nearing 30, but we’re still very young. So no, I’m not confident about retirement because it is just so far away.
We also have credit card debt – DH’s dad didn’t help pay for part of our wedding 2 years ago that he said he would, and to help my parents out, we charged it. Had no choice. But we’re getting that paid down.
We also don’t own a home yet – our market is steep. A modest 3 bedroom 1.5 bath condo (not even a stand alone HOUSE) is about 174,900 right now. With living on one income, we’re limited. But that’s okay…
We are saving for college for our kiddos – DH and I both went to college, and we want some sort of an education fund for all of our children, whether it be a 2 year, 4 year, vocational school, or otherwise. We at least want to help them out a bit – most likely won’t be able to pay 100%, but it would be enough to make things a bit easier for them. I worked 60 hours a week in college and still ended up with a bit of credit card debt at the end, so I’m inclined to help the kids out much as I can. I’d be pretty disappointed if they didn’t get some type of higher education.
Hopefully, we’ll score better in a year when we’re debt free (cars and credit cards) – overall, I’m not worried about our overall financial health. We’re doing well compared to a lot of our friends…..
I scored 83%, I gueess not having a life plan cost me a lot. I scored really well on my credit and debt section. I guess I need to work on the savings and life plan part.
We scored an 84%, but I think that mostly has to do with the fact that we live on such a small income. Since I know there’s not much we can do to change that right now, I’m pretty happy about what I scored. Thanks for the link Crystal!
My wife and I just took the IQ (from different computers) and both ended up with pretty close scores – 78 & 83. I think I scored lower than her because of our lack of insurance and wills. I found the credit and debt information to be helpful and confirming, and the wealth and life plan information was a bit eye-opening. We’ve got some work to do. Thanks for sharing the BillsIQ!
We scored 97%. One additional item in our lives that affects financial planning is accumulating a life income for our son, who is disabled. So we may be a little short in “contributing to a college fund” for our daughter (we plan to sell land we own to fund a substantial portion of her education expense, and even with projected education inflation it should be enough to cover that) but we’re ahead in planning for our son. So I think this is a good tool for typical families but might not capture the whole picture for others. And the critical items — being debt-free, paying bills on time, and monitoring your expenses — are good for everyone to focus on.
~Karen
94%! We’re not contributing to a college fund, either and we don’t have a will. That’s been on the “need to do list” for a while. Guess I need to move it up! I think overall we’re doing pretty well. We’re currently trying to increase DH’s income to start paying down the house.
This is a great subject today – I’ve enjoyed reading the comments.
Off the subject – Here is a WalMart website offering free samples (one per household). I check back every week and usually there is another new product listed.
Just click on “free samples”, click on the product sample you want, fill out your name and address and give it 2-3 weeks. I started getting samples last month, just samples, no junk mail.
Long live free stuff!
http://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-Free-Samples-And-Trials.aspx
I scored 97%. One thing that brought us down was the fact that we have a will but haven’t had it notarized yet so technically we don’t have one. Also, We don’t contribute regularly to our children’s college funds. We have 4 children (and probably will have at least one or two more in the future) and know that we won’t be able to afford to send them all to college so we are choosing to do what we can and focus more on getting ourselves out of debt (all we have left is the mortgage). We have GREAT community colleges around here so we are just planning to help out with those costs.
95%, mostly because we have some student loan debt from a recent MBA, which allowed my husband to earn significantly more. Plan to pay it off within the year though!
we scored 99%… which is a good feeling considering how hard we have worked to be financially fit over the 11 years we have been married, and how much we have had to sacrifice (compared to the cultural norm) to get here.
91 for me… we don’t have a specific “college fund” for our children… and I don’t know what our credit score is right now (a few years ago Joshua’s was really great and I had a 0 or something since I’ve never had a credit card or been in debt!
I’m never 100% satisfied/comfortable with our finances/retirement… there’s just too much uncertainty in this world. Even a large sum in the bank doesn’t mean anything when the value of the dollar diminishes. (Not that we have a large sum… ;D)
91%. Fell down in not shopping for car rates, not being able to afford a house and currently no 401k, but that’s starting soon. I am debt free and am in the process of moving my bank accounts around so I can have the most I can in a high yield savings account.
I scored a 94% A, which I am happy about.
I scored 92%, we need to contribute regularly to our kids college funds, put more in savings (we have 3 months right now), get wills and something that counted against us is we’re loyal to our insurance carrier.
i scared an 84%!
i think that is good. we are young and a young couple and just getting our feet back on track.
thanks for the fun quiz!
89% here, thanks to my husband and his hard work!
92% – no education fund here, and we only have a holographic will at this point.
We scored 94% and I believe it is due to two things. One, it did not have a category at the beginning about credit…meaning NOT HAVING a credit card. It assumed everyone has a credit card. Credit free for seven years thank you very much! Two, we do not contribute to our children’s college fund. You appreciate the education more if you have to work for it and it also spurns them on to keep after their studies instead of Mom and Dad giving a free ride. Just our ideas.
I got a 78. Not too surprising! I know I have a lot of work to do.
This has nothing to do with the quiz, but I have discovered that I have lost a good chunk of my coupons (with 2 CVS gift cards and all my ECB’s!) this morning during my shopping trip. I knew you all would understand the great frustration this is and wouldn’t mind praying as I retrace my steps. Thanks!
I just took it and scored 94.We feel we are right on track with our financial goals. Of course one always feels more secure when money is just sitting in the bank, but it is more important that we lean on God as our provider.
I agree with you– anyone that takes this little game and doesn’t score so high should not feel badly. We are all at different places in our lives and no matter where we are at, when we trust God, He will come to our aid.
Take Care,
Trixie
Just a few thoughts on college and wills:
First, if you have kids and don’t have a will, please, please, please write one as your will is what gives instructions for who should care for your kids if something happens to you. Without a will, the state will decide.
Second, my parents had differing experiences in college. My mom’s parents were able to pay for her and my dad had to work his way through. They both felt that their experience was valuable, so they decided they would pay 80% of our college costs and we would pay 20%, after any scholarships or grants we earned. I’m paying back student loans from that and I really don’t feel like I value my education more based on how much of it I paid for. I’m blessed that my parents were able to help me as much as they did, but my goal is definitely to have enough money saved that our kids can have the same experience my husband and I had in college (see next comment). I DO NOT want them to have student loans that follow them out of school and I want them to be able to focus on learning without having to work all the time to pay the bills. I babysat 10-15 hours a week all through college, which is what paid for my groceries and miscellaneous expenses, but I’m so glad I didn’t have to worry about paying for tuition too.
Third, I am SO, SO thankful to have been able to attend a Christian liberal arts college, where I learned so much about the world and who I am in it. I feel that I was truly educated and not in a job factory like many view college to be. Part of it was my approach to education (going to learn about the world and not to get a degree to do a particular job) and part of it was the environment I was in that really encouraged engagement. But I can say without a doubt that my life was so shaped by my experiences in college.
To add to the list, my score was 95, because we have only one month’s expenses in an emergency fund and we’re more than 5 years from paying off medical school and our house. After 4 more years of residency are done (making a very small salary), though, we’ll be the rest of the way out of debt within 2 years.
I scored a 76 – normally I’d FREAK, but we’ve been hard at work on turning a downward spiral back up.
Only scored a 95. We currently only have one month of income in savings but are working on it. Just finished paying off all debt, with the exception of our mortgage which will be paid off in seven years. Plus the fact that we do not have a college fund either for our boys didn’t help our score. We use credit cards for gas purchases only and then pay them off in full each month. I’ve never made a late payment and our credit scores are 807-810. We don’t buy many extras and our budget is already pretty bare bones – there’s not alot of fluff in it. We try to live within our means and we don’t care what our neighbors or friends have that we don’t. Enjoyed the quiz and look forward to checking out your website each day : )
We scored an 85%. I know there are things we need to work on. It gave me a better understanding of our money.
Thank you for the quiz.
97%, but we work at our finances regularly (we have to with my wife in grad school).
92% here. We just started budgeting and plan to have 3 months’ emergency fund, but it’s not there yet. We have student loan debt, but the rate is under 3%, so we’re only paying the minimum on that for now, which is about $100/mo. We got a will this year and my husband has a 457b. We’ve got life insurance and I just cut my car insurance in half switching providers. We refinanced the house when the rates dipped in January, saving us $75/mo (although the loan grew 2K to cover closing costs). We stopped using credit cards entirely last month. We aren’t saving for our kids’ education, but my parents are (I didn’t count that).
I was pleased to get a 95%, my financially savvy husband received a 97. Fun quiz!
Sigh, I only scored a 90%. I think it was because we only have about 1 month of emergency fund and we don’t really have a budget.
What a fun tool! I love that it includes several different aspects of financial fitness – I’ve seen many people focus on one and neglect the others.
We scored 99% – we don’t pay to have our credit monitored. I’m glad to know that we’re “financially fit.” Like another commenter, we too have a son with a disability so it’s really important for us to be saving for our future.
Thanks for sharing this!
I scored a 64, but I think it’s too high! I have no emergency fund, am 4 months behind on most bills, (mortgage too) and am $500 in the hole every month with my debt2income ratio.
I got a 93%. We’d be better off if we had more in rainy-day savings, but we have been using any extra to pay the mortgage down– should have that taken care of in 5 years, so I was disappointed the quiz didn’t give us ‘credit’ for that. Also we have made the decision to let our kids pay for their own college– I am sure we were dinged on the quiz for that. It was interesting to take this…thanks for sharing!
Mary, mom to many
I got a 98% and I have no clue why?
92% here, no will, 2 months savings, and still 1-5 thousand in CC bills.
Hopefully in a year or so, our score will be a little higher.
Thanks for this site.
I scored and 87% and I also was surprised it was that high. This past year we just began following the Dave Ramsey plan and are still very much baby stepping, but the score made me feel better. If we had taken it a year ago it would be a definite F.
I scored an 83% and I was surprised it was that high- thankfully it didn’t ask how much debt we actually have.
We’re working on it though.
We got a 96% but I don’t necessarily agree with the reasons why. I am very secure in what we are doing financially so that was good confirmation!!
Wow…that was fun!! I am going to post that quiz on my blog. Thanks for the link.
I scored 100%.
Woo, hoo! I was so excited. It it always nice to have confirmation that you are on track for your family!
89%–we have a what I consider a huge credit card debt. Fortunately, we’re on track to have it payed off by January. Yay!
On nother note, isn’t it crazy that people think it makes more sense to owe crazy debt on a house? That kind of thinking drives me nuts.
92%
Scored a 92%. Still have some student loans from master’s work, and we don’t have a will because we have no kids. Hopefully it will be fun to take this later when I have my school debt paid off.
I got an 86%…not as high as I would like, but the areas that it figured I need to work on I am currently working on. So, I don’t feel so bad
94%. We don’t save for college, we save for retirement. Our theory is Monkey boy can get student loans or scholarships (if he even chooses college), but no one is going to loan us money to retire.
86. Not too shabby. I had some recent issues that have built up a little credit card debt and I don’t have a will….soon to change! It was an interesting quiz!
We scored a 99% but since we have been financially independent since our 50′s I would be surprised if we hadn’t! We own our home outright and have for years; we pay cash for our cars; we use credit cards for convenience and pay them off every month; we have no debt whatsoever and have accumulated megabucks so that we can live financially independent for the rest of our lives.
I got a 93%, which I am fairly happy with. The major things for us are not owning our own home yet (we are saving up), not having our will in place (a goal we have for this year), not checking insurance rates often (because this really doesn’t apply in Canada, at least not in BC), and not being 100% sure about our retirement plans. I think that’s fairly minor, for where we’re at in life.
The only other thing was that at the moment, we only have between 1-2 months savings, which we are working at bringing up to a full 3 months as soon as we can. It will feel so good to have those savings, and then go really hard on our house savings!
Fun quiz, thanks Crystal!