Quick: If you take out a $1000 loan that has a 20% rate, how much will you owe a year in interest?

Answer: $200. But if you got that wrong, you’re not alone. Nearly two thirds of Americans can’t calculate interest payments correctly, according to a new study. About a third said they didn’t even know how.

One of the silver linings of the financial crisis was that it was supposed to have taught many Americans a lesson, albeit painful, about the dangers of debt, and financial issues in general. Apparently, the message, though, didn’t get across.

All told, a new study, which was released today, estimated that nearly two-thirds of Americans couldn’t pass a basic financial literacy test, meaning they got fewer than four answers correct on a five-question quiz. Worse, the percentage of those who can pass the test has fallen consistently since the financial crisis to 37% last year, from 42% in 2009.

These findings come from the National Capability Study by the FINRA Foundation, which surveyed 27,564 Americans, from June through October of last year. FINRA is a quasi-government organization that regulates brokers and Wall Street.

Bonds presented one of the biggest problems for respondents of the survey. Just 28% knew what happens to bond prices when interest rates fall. (They rise.) And less than half of all Americans appear to be able to answer basic questions about financial risk.

Beyond financial literacy, the study found that many Americans have recovered from the financial crisis. Respondents to the survey who reported no difficulty in covering monthly expenses and bills increased 12 percentage points, to 48% in 2015 from 36% in 2009. The percentage of respondents with emergency funds has increased to 46% from 35% in the same years. Additionally, more than half of those using credit cards reported that they pay off their balance each month—the highest percentage since the survey began, the study found.

However, the study also showed that even eight years after the financial crisis, significant segments of the population, including African-Americans, Hispanics, women, Millennials, and people lacking a high school education—so a lot of people—are still worse off then before the recession.

Women are more likely to put off medical services like seeing a doctor, buying prescriptions, or undergoing a medical procedure due to cost. This leaves more than one in five Americans, or 21%, with unpaid medical debt, according to the study.

As for minorities, 39% of blacks and 34% of Latinos have used such high-cost forms of borrowing as pawn shops and payday loans, compared with 21% of whites and 21% of Asians.

And unlike their predecessors, 29% of Millennials, who are 18 to 34, said they had been tardy paying their mortgage, vs. 16% of those ages 35 to 54. And 45% of all respondents with no college education said that if they had an emergency requiring them to pull together $2,000 within a month, they wouldn’t be able to do so.

“This research underscores the critical need for innovative strategies to equip consumers with the tools and education required to effectively manage their financial lives,” said FINRA Foundation Chairman Richard Ketchum in a press release. “My hope is that policymakers, researchers, and advocates will use these findings to make more informed decisions about how to best reach underserved populations.”

Despite the overall rebound from the Great Recession, Deutsche Bank (DB, -0.25%) says there’s a 60% chance the U.S. is headed back into a recession, partly due to the fact that the difference between yields for long-term and short-term bonds has been shrinking.

As for women, Fortune previously reported that although the increase in the number of women employed has pushed down the female unemployment rate, joblessness among women overall is higher than what it was in the months leading up to the downturn.

The survey was conducted through an email invitation and an online survey between March 21 and March 27, 2017. The focus of this survey included how children earn their allowance, how children perceive money earned, as well as insights to when parents think children should start learning about personal finances.

Hard Work Pays Off 

The majority of the 500 children who responded had accurate expectations of how money is earned. In all, 91% believed people earn money by working, 40% thought money came from parents, 26% thought money was earned (by means other than working), while 4% believed money grew on trees.

How do people get their money?91% from working, 40% from their parents, 26% they win it, 4% it grows on trees.

Hands-On Experience

The majority of the kids had hands-on experience with earning their own money at home. Of the 500 students, 82% of the children stated that they earned an allowance for doing chores, getting good grades, doing homework and simply being kind to others at school and at home. Through this hands-on approach, most of the children in this study were knowledgeable about the basics of money, including how to count and save money.

How do you get your allowance?

68% Do Chores, 54% Get Good Grades, 36% Do My Home Work, 21% Be Nice To Parent /Siblings

Achieving Financial Freedom Starts In the Home

When it comes down to parents’ expectations of their children and finances, 94% of parents believed that by the age of 12 a child should start learning about personal finances. While the majority of parents (92%) are leading by example by saving money for emergencies, college tuition, and retirement; many children still seem to lack the understanding of savings, interest and smart spending.

At what age should people start learning about personal finances?

67% 5-to-8-years old

27% 9-12-years old

5% 13-to-20-years old

Methodology

The Junior Achievement-Jackson Financial Literacy Surveys were conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 500 U.S. children ages 7-10 and 500 parents of U.S. children ages 7-10, between March 21 and March 27, 2017, using an email invitation and an online survey.

Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results.  For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4.4 percentage points in each audience from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

2. Pencil out a budget. After working for a few months and getting used to the amount of take-home pay (after taxes) you’re earning, figure out how much money you can afford to spend each month.

Mapping out your budget is a great way to help you quickly uncover whether you’re on the rocky road to spending more than you make — as I was for a while after college.

3. Move in with your parents to keep housing costs down. This presumes they’re cool with the idea and won’t charge you rent. You’ll then be able to devote the money you save on housing to cutting your debt and increasing your savings.

4. Steer clear of debt. If you’re not saddled by debt payments, you’ll be more nimble and able to pursue a wider array of career opportunities. Debt can stop you from taking a job you might love because the salary won’t be high enough to meet your monthly obligations.

It can even shut the door on a job offer altogether, because an increasing number of employers are checking prospective employees’ credit reports as part of their due diligence.

I admit this anti-debt advice will be tough for many new grads to follow. A recent Fidelity Investments study found that a stunning 70% of the class of 2013 is graduating with an average debt of $35,200. And 42% of Millennials polled say their debt is “overwhelming,” according to a new Wells Fargo Retirement report, twice the rate of boomers who were surveyed.

5. Reduce your debt load as quickly as possible. If you have hefty college loans, “reframe the way you think about your debt,” says Ken Ilgunas, author of Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road from Debt to Freedom. “Don’t think of your debt as a monthly bill, think of it as a sworn enemy. You need to hate your debt,” he adds.

Ilgunas, 29, speaks from experience. He managed to pay off $18,000 of his $35,000 student loan debt in one year.

But if you can’t match Ilguna’s fierce resolve, force yourself to pinch, pinch and pinch some more. Lowering your spending will raise the amount available to pay off your debt.

Adding an extra $25 to your monthly repayments can shorten the life of your student loan and save you interest. Making the payments through automatic debits from your bank account can reduce the interest rate, too, according to student-loan servicer Sallie Mae.

6. Top priority: an emergency fund. The rule of thumb from financial advisers is to try to set aside the equivalent of three to six months worth of living expenses. (Personally, I prefer a year, but that can take time to build.) Make this a personal goal.

A money market mutual fund or a bank savings account are smart places for your rainy day fund.

7. Start investing. No, it’s not too soon. In fact, one of the great advantages you have over people your parents’ and grandparents’ age is that you have many, many years ahead of you, which means more time for your money to grow. And, historically, buying stocks or mutual funds is the best way to do this.

The National Endowment for Financial Education’s website, Smartaboutmoney.org, offers free guides explaining the basics of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. You can also learn investing fundamentals by taking a course at a community college or signing up for a local seminar sponsored by a group like the American Association of Individual Investors, which doesn’t sell financial products.

8. Take advantage of your employer’s 401(k) or similar retirement plan. Workers under age 50 can contribute up to $17,500 to these programs in 2013. Your contributions, deducted from your paycheck automatically, are tax-deductible and your money grows tax-deferred until you take it out, ideally in retirement.

If possible, invest enough in your 401(k) to qualify for the full match (the amount your employer puts in as a result of how much you contribute).

Most employers require workers to save between 4 and 6% of pay to get the maximum match. Whatever the match, try to take your company up on it. Why refuse free money?

You might be leery to commit to a 401(k), worrying about tying the money up and thinking that you could invest outside the plan in whatever you want.

But trust me: the automatic feature of a 401(k) trumps those concerns. You’ll save for the future without having to think about it — and the penalties for early withdrawals will help keep you from dipping into the money. One day you’ll thank me.

9. Which reminds me: Don’t raid your 401(k). I screwed this one up. When I switched jobs at age 30, I cashed out my first 401(k). Imagining what that money might be worth today, 23 years later, makes my heart sink.

10. And don’t skip health insurance either. When you’re in your 20s, you think you’ll never get sick or injured. But sudden illnesses do strike and accidents do happen. Insurance will help you pay the medical bills.

Under the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), you can be insured as a dependent on your parent’s health insurance plan if you’re under 26. The exception: If you can get health insurance through your own job.

If you can’t piggyback onto your parent’s plan and you don’t have a job with health insurance, you might need to buy a short-term policy. For advice on how to do it, take a look at my Next Avenue article, “What to Do About Health Insurance When You’re Self-Employed.”

Starting in January 2014, if your employer doesn’t provide health insurance, you’ll be able to buy it through one of the new health insurance marketplaces.

11. Finally, splurge a bit on life experiences. Sometimes, spending for fun stuff pays dividends. (And as my Irish father always said about money, “You can’t take it with you.”)

The summer I graduated from college I spent $1,500 I’d saved from summer jobs to go on my first trip to Europe, with my older brother. That experience has paid me back with decades of storytelling and memories too rich to put a dollar figure on.

For three weeks, we slept on trains and in youth hostels, lugging our knapsacks from town to town and country to country. Wow, what a journey!

Now that I think of it, I hope my nephew Michael uses the graduation check my husband and I gave him for a travel fund. Then, after he comes back from someplace great, he can start following my other tips.

However, many older adults may lose track of their finance payments in the shuffle, which could cause problems down the road. Luckily, several workshops are popping up across Canada to specifically help seniors understand how to best manage their money. Consider these benefits of being financially literate as a senior.

1. Recognize fraud

Seniors are one of the most popular groups to be targeted by fraudulent schemes, the Institute of Financial Literacy noted. These tactics are easy to believe and often cause older adults to put their trust in fraudulent people or programs.

However, most seniors will end up losing significant amounts of money, leaving them unable to pay for bills or support themselves. Certain fraud protection workshops, such “Savvy Seniors,” a program from the Better Business Bureau, help seniors recognize common signs of fraud, according to Programs for Elderly.

Common signs of fraudulence may include ordering products off a fishy website, winning a trip that needs to be paid for upfront or scams that pressure people to pay now to get the best deal or offer. Seniors may also be victims of identity theft, if they aren’t careful who they share their bank information with. Knowing how to recognize these scams can protect seniors’ financial information and potentially catch those committing fraud, the Institute of Financial Literacy noted.

2. Prepare for retirement Some seniors may not have anticipated what comes with retirement and a limited budget, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada notes. Some seniors may still be living beyond their means, which could push them into debt. Every older adult should be able to live a comfortable life once he or she retires. However, adequate planning is needed in order to save enough money before retirement and know how to handle money once in retirement. That’s where financial workshops come in, such as “Strengthening Seniors’ Financial Literacy,” a program that’s part of the FCAC’s National Strategy for Financial Literacy. This program can train older adults how to keep a close eye on bills and understand how to live on a smaller income. They also can teach seniors how to properly save money and organize financial assets so that they can be used when needed and provide older adults with the financial cushion they need. Financial classes can also educate seniors about the transitional changes in retirement and what that might mean for your wallet, especially if you move into an assisted living or retirement community.

3. Seek out help when needed

Sometimes, seniors may be embarrassed or too shy to ask for financial help from loved ones or a consultant.

However, knowing when help is needed is the best way to keep yourself financially afloat. Though older adults can pay for a financial adviser, there are also public services and programs that seniors can use to get financial advice, the FCAC noted. These financial workshops can provide seniors with the information they need to contact or attend these programs and services if they are in a bind or simply curious about a specific financial asset.

4. Learn how to cope

Major life changes that impact your finances may be difficult. However, learning how to deal with these inevitable life alterations can help make the process go a lot more smoothly and allow you to be more prepared later on. Workshops established by the FCAC, in collaboration with programs such as the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement help address common life changes that occur to older adults and how to cope with these significant transitions. They also may discuss making the transition smooth by slowly reducing your hours at work, or working part-time until you decide to fully retire. These subtle changes may be easier than leaving your job entirely in one action.

5. Get educated by experts All of these financial programs, including Your Money Seniors, are created and taught by educated, successful bankers in your area, CARP assured. These services are free to all seniors and are taught in both French and English for people of any age. Your Money Seniors, for instance, is broken into three separate seminars that are divided by topic, CARP noted.