“Just over 10 years ago, researchers at the University of Michigan added three questions to their Health and Retirement Study, a biennial survey of Americans over 50:

 

■ If $100 earns 2 percent per year, in five years will you have more than $102, less than $102 or $102?

 

■ If the interest rate on your savings is 1 percent per year and annual inflation 2 percent, could you buy more, less or the same with your money in a year’s time?

 

■ Is it true or false that buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than the stock of a mutual fund?”

 

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Read the full New York Times article by Eduardo Porter here.