Importance of Financial Literacy for Retirement | SafeMoney.

By Brent Meyer — SafeMoney.com Founder & Editor Reviewed by Licensed Financial Professionals  |  SafeMoney.com — Trusted Since 2011  |  Updated Regularly Quick Answer: Discover why financial literacy is crucial for a happy retirement. Learn how safe money alternatives can secure your future. Explore more at SafeMoney.com. Editor’s Note: This is the last feature in a fourt-part series on financial education for April, which is National Financial Literacy Month. To see the first part of this series,  click here . As Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” But actually investing in gaining more financial knowledge is an activity that many Americans don’t seem to do . While studies suggest that lots of people understand the value of financial literacy, the truth is many things compete for our time. When so much is going on, it’s easy to put learning time for money matters on the back-burner. Even so, what we know drives our money behaviors and decisions, and so a gap in knowledge can hit home in many ways. This is a complex problem for several reasons. For instance, in one survey, GoBankingRates found that over half of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. In another study by TD Ameritrade, 96% of Americans knew what they paid for streaming media services like Netflix, but only 27% knew what they paid in 401(k) plan fees. In fact, the majority of investors in the TD Ameritrade survey thought they paid no employer plan fees, didn’t know if their plans had fees, or didn’t know how to determine the fees. Other studies have also captured similar data with investors and their familarity with their employer retirement plans. All of this adds up to an ongoing cycle of money headaches, mistakes, and disappointments for many households. Eye-Opening Statistics This may be an eye-opening insight. The U.S. ranked 14 th  in financial literacy in 2015, according to The Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services Global Financial Literacy Survey. The survey is considered to be the world’s largest, most comprehensive global measurement of financial literacy. In the study, nearly half of the U.S. population rated as “financially illiterate.” Another alarming finding as reported by the researchers: Risk diversification was determined to be the  least  understood concept. It also happens to be one of the most important concepts for those planning on