The Actual Challenges of Financial Literacy is an academic paper by Jan W. Mitchell and Magipervas E. Abusheva (Tomsk Polytechnic University) examining why financial literacy efforts fall short worldwide.
Summary: Based on survey data from over 1,500 students and professionals across the US, Canada, Russia, Japan, and Germany, the paper identifies financial literacy’s core challenges:
- the lack of a standardized teaching structure,
- outdated and unengaging classes that ignore modern apps, s
- gender disparities in financial confidence and long-term planning,
- widespread retirement unpreparedness,
- consumer overconfidence paired with blind trust in financial advisors,
- insufficient government legislation, funding, and oversight.
Big Idea: Financial literacy isn’t just an individual knowledge problem; it’s a structural failure across educational, institutional, and governmental levels. Without a clear operational framework, modern interactive tools, properly trained educators, or enforced risk-disclosure policies, public efforts to build sustainable financial well-being will continue to stall.
Playable Takeaway: The gap between how much people trust financial experts and how little they track their own money creates a realistic conflict to build a game around. A game could put players in positions where trusting an adviser seems like a shortcut, only to reveal the impact when they actually understand their own plan.
View the full resource here.