Do investors have higher financial literacy?

For the first time in this edition, we asked respondents whether they themselves own financial investments – be it traditional securities such as shares, bonds or ETFs, alternative investments, digital assets, derivatives or sustainable investments. Around 57 percent of respondents said they own at least one form of financial investment, just under 39 percent own none, and around 4 percent gave no answer.

The difference in financial knowledge between these groups is one of the clearest findings of the entire study. Those who own investments scored 6.6 on the financial literacy index – those who own none, just 4.1. That corresponds to around 66 versus 41 percent of questions answered correctly. This gap of around 25 percentage points is larger than the difference between the genders and approaches the gap between the lowest and highest levels of education.

Ahead on every single question

Remarkably, investors performed better on all ten questions – without exception. The lead is smallest on the fundamentals such as compound interest (86 versus 71 percent), as this basic knowledge is widespread even without personal investment experience. The gap is widest on the more demanding, application-oriented topics: on understanding the advantages of ETFs, investors stood at 46 percent, non-investors at just 16 percent. On how cash behaves in a stock market crash, it was 47 percent versus around 21 percent, and on herd behaviour 73 versus 42 percent.

Those who don't invest say «don't know» more often

A second pattern reinforces the picture. Those who own no securities chose the answer «don't know» on an average of 36 percent of the questions, compared with just 9 percent among investors. This uncertainty is not only a lack of knowledge but also a lack of confidence to venture a judgement at all.

We know the same pattern from the gender differences of previous years, and it fits a broad body of research: a substantial share of knowledge gaps shows up less in wrong answers than in the reluctance to answer at all. First contact with one's own portfolio seems to change a great deal here.

That men perform better than women in our surveys is no longer a surprise – it holds in 2026 too, and on every single question (66 versus 47 percent on average). What is new is what the investment dimension contributes. Around two thirds of men own investments of their own, but only just under half of women.

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Added to this is a pattern we have seen since the first edition: women answer «don't know» more often. Part of the gap is therefore not a question of knowledge but of confidence.

Why age hardly matters

One might assume that financial knowledge grows with life experience. Our data does not bear this out: only two percentage points separate the youngest and the oldest group. At the overall level, age simply plays no role.

It only becomes visible in the detail – and there in two directions at once. Older participants achieved better results on questions about inflation, shares and the relationship between risk and expected return, while younger respondents performed more strongly on ETF knowledge.

Education and income are among the most stable patterns in the study series – and 2026 is no exception. Those with higher education answer around 64 percent of the questions correctly, compared with 40 percent among those with lower education.

For income, the range runs from 40 percent in the lowest group to 72 percent in the highest, rising almost continuously.

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As with gender, differences in education and income show up not only in concrete knowledge but also in the degree of uncertainty:

The survey data says little about cause and effect. Research – such as the much-cited work of Lusardi and Mitchell (2014) – suggests that financial literacy is not only a consequence but also a driver of economic success. The effect therefore probably runs in both directions.

As with gender, differences in education and income show up not only in concrete knowledge but also in the degree of uncertainty: participants with less education and low income answered «don't know» significantly more often.

The regional difference persists. In German-speaking Switzerland, respondents answered around 58 percent of the questions correctly on average; in French-speaking Switzerland, around 46 percent.

On the fundamental concepts such as compound interest, inflation and diversification, the two regions were almost level last year. This year, however, French-speaking Switzerland shows a marked decline. The share of correct answers fell from 73 percent in 2025 to 68 percent this year.

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Asked about the advantages of ETFs, a remarkable 50 percent answered «don't know». This difference is likely related, among other things, to the differing investment preferences in the two language regions.

Also striking is the high share of «don't know» answers in French-speaking Switzerland (28 percent compared with 19 percent in German-speaking Switzerland). Asked about the advantages of ETFs, a remarkable 50 percent answered «don't know». This difference is likely related, among other things, to the differing investment preferences in the two language regions. Our ETF study shows that people in German-speaking Switzerland invest in ETFs more often than in French-speaking Switzerland – further evidence of how closely personal investment experience and financial knowledge are linked.

At 5.5 out of 10 points, the financial literacy of the Swiss population sits at a middling level that has remained remarkably stable over three years.

Yet those who do not know the basic principles of dealing with money cannot make good decisions in the long run – and thus cannot take responsibility for their own financial future.

This year's findings give this insight a practical twist. One of the largest differences in financial knowledge runs not along age or region, but between those who invest and those who do not.

With the third edition, a time series spanning three years is now available. You can find the results of the first survey from 2024 here, and those from 2025 here.

The True Wealth Financial Literacy Index measures the financial and investment knowledge of the Swiss population and allows a more detailed analysis by sociodemographic characteristics.