When faced with a financial question, a person may answer correctly, answer incorrectly, or state that they don’t know the answer. The purpose of this study is first to explore the significance of answering a financial question incorrectly in contrast to answering “don’t know”. Second, to investigate how taking a financial education course may be associated with the responses a person provides. We will look both at the behaviors associated with answering don’t know compared to answering incorrectly, as well the relationship between taking a financial education course and what kind of responses a person makes to financial knowledge questions. Our analysis suggests that answering incorrectly rather than answering “don’t know” is associated with an increase in problematic financial behavior. Therefore, we should be cautious in suggesting people trust they know the answer to financial questions, as if it pushes them to answer incorrectly it could have harmful consequences. We also find that taking a course in financial education is associated with an increase in the number of incorrect responses a person provides. This suggests there are some previously under-appreciated risks to financial education as it is currently being provided.
