A new survey measuring Americans' ability to manage money finds that many lack the skills and confidence to handle personal finance.

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The survey comes from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and shows less than 1 in 10 feel confident about money management. Furthermore, 1 in 4 wish they didn't even have to deal with their finances, according to Foundation spokesperson Gail Cunningham.

"It may be a bad attitude, or it may be a realistic assessment of their financial skills," she said.

Cunningham thinks there is a common misconception about credit and financial counseling: that it costs too much. She said her nonprofit foundation has 100 members and 600 locations that offer free or low-cost financial counseling.

Many of us learn financial habits from our parents, but if Mom and Dad are bad examples, we learn bad habits.

"What's disconcerting is that they (the children) don't reach out for help," Cunningham said, adding that many mistakenly believe they are the only ones with poor money skills. That's far from accurate, however, as less than half of U.S. states require the completion of a personal finance course as a prerequisite for high school graduation.

You can get more information from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling at www.nfcc.org.

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