NEW YORK — Another Tax Day is (mercifully) in the books. The dreaded T-word strikes fear into the hearts of even the bravest among us. So, just how deep does this aversion go? It turns out one in four people would rather spend an evening wrestling with homework rather than tackle their taxes!
A survey of 2,000 Americans split evenly by generation (500 Gen Z, 500 millennials, 500 Gen X, and 500 baby boomers) reveals that respondents would also rather dissect a frog (14%), take the SATs (11%), or take a calculus exam (9%) than file their taxes each year. The poll also asked Americans how much practical information they learned in school and found that a majority feel like they only use half of the information they learned during their adult lives (52%).
This may also be why 55 percent admit that they rely on Google more than their formal education, with the average American searching five basic questions each day. Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of the banking app Chime, the survey also found that one-third (32%) of Americans learned “nothing at all” about personal finances during their school years.
Results show that respondents knew more about information that is rarely used in daily life, like the definitions of equilateral (72%), scalene (69%), and isosceles triangles (57%), than they did about crucial financial information, such as the difference between a W-2 and a W-4 (46%).
While more than half (52%) of Gen Zers were able to identify the mitochondria as the powerhouse of the cell, only a quarter (26%) of the same group correctly defined “taxable income” as money, property, or services you earn through work, investments and other means.
Results also found that while 63 percent of all respondents consider themselves smarter than the average middle schooler, 16 percent of both baby boomers and Gen X don’t feel like they are.
“Everyone has strengths when it comes to money, but it’s clear that schools have not taught our country properly on…
Read the full article here
