Early-Life Schooling and Cognition and Late-Life Financial Literacy in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, a sample of Wisconsin high school graduates from the class of 1957, we unpack the relationship between general human capital and late-life financial literacy. In short, we examine the links between cognition and financial literacy. We find that those with lower early-life cognitive functioning, especially those without college degrees, have lower levels of financial literacy in late life. We also find that cognition in late life, controlling for early life cognitive functioning, is also linked to financial literacy