Last modified: June 30, 2025

Unless otherwise specifically delineated in a written agreement signed by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (the “Foundation”), these NFCS Terms of Use govern access and use of the National Financial Capability Study (“NFCS”) data (“Data”). By accessing and using the Data, you certify that (1) you have read and understand these Terms of Use and (2) you agree to these Terms of Use. By agreeing to these Terms of Use on behalf of an organization, you certify that you have the authority of that organization to enter into these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you must cease all use of the Data. The Foundation reserves any rights, privileges, or immunities not expressly granted under these Terms of Use. The Foundation reserves the right to change these Terms of Use from time to time at its sole discretion. Your access and use of the Data constitutes your acknowledgement of, and agreement to the updated Terms of Use. Your access and use of the Data will be subject to the most current version of the Terms of Use at the time of such use.

1.    Ownership. NFCS is a proprietary product and the Foundation reserves all proprietary rights in and to the Data. You acknowledge and agree that the Foundation and/or its parent company, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) are the exclusive and rightful owner of, and shall retain all worldwide right, title, and interest in and to all registered and unregistered, and any future registered, names, trademarks, trade dress, service marks, domain names, and logos, or any derivation thereof, and all goodwill therein, of FINRA, the Foundation and their affiliates ("Licensed Marks"). Nothing contained in these Terms of Use shall serve to transfer to you any ownership or proprietary interest in the Data or the Licensed Marks.

2.    Changes to the Data. The Foundation reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Data with or without notice to you. The Foundation will not be liable to you or any third party should it exercise its right to modify or discontinue the Data. If you object to any such changes, your sole recourse will be to cease using the Data. Continued use of the Data following notice of any such changes will indicate your acknowledgement of such changes and satisfaction with the Data as so modified.

3.    Permitted Uses. The Data provided shall be used ONLY for your academic research and publication for non-commercial purposes. You are expressly prohibited from sharing, distributing, transferring, or otherwise making the Data available to any third party. In the event that any individual or entity working in collaboration with you requires access to the Data, such individual or entity must independently obtain the Data directly from the Foundation and execute their own agreement to the applicable terms of use.

In any publication, presentation, or other output resulting from the use of the Data, you shall: 

  1. Clearly indicate the Foundation is the sole owner of the Data;
  2. Specify how the Data is used, and describe any changes made to the Data;
  3. disclose the date that Data was collected.

If you identify any errors or outdated information in the data, you must promptly notify the Foundation of such errors or outdated information.

All other uses are prohibited unless approved in writing by the Foundation. The Foundation reserves the right to suspend or terminate your right to use the Data, in the event that the Foundation believes that you have violated any provision of these Terms of Use.

4.    Restrictions. Notwithstanding the permitted uses of the Data described in Section 2 of these Terms of Use, in no case may you:

  1. share, distribute, transfer, or otherwise make available the Data any portion thereof to any third party 
  2. use, export, or re-export the Data in violation of applicable laws or regulations;
  3. sell, lease, loan, distribute, transfer, or sublicense the Data or access thereto or derive income from the use or provision thereof, whether for direct commercial or monetary gain or otherwise;
  4. alter or modify the factual content of the Data (though creation of derived variables for academic research purposes is permitted); 
  5. use the Data for unsolicited marking of goods or services;
  6. use the Data in any unlawful, fraudulent, misleading, obscene, harmful, threatening, harassing, defamatory or hateful manner, that invades the privacy of any third party, for any unlawful purpose, or in any manner inconsistent with these Terms of Use;
  7. use the Data or Licensed Marks in a manner that infringes, violates or misappropriates the Foundation’s, FINRA’s,  their affiliates’, or a third party’s intellectual property rights;
    display the Data or the Licensed Marks on any website or in any manner that disparages the Foundation or is otherwise threatening, vulgar or inappropriate as the Foundation determines, in its sole discretion; or
  8. use any portion of the Data in the development or training of large language models, generative AI systems, or other machine learning models that could reproduce, synthesize or generate content based on the Data under any circumstance; however, this restriction does not prohibit the use of non-generative machine learning techniques, predictive analytics, non-generative machine learning techniques (such as regression, classification, clustering, or dimensionality reduction) that are applied solely for academic research purposes and do not attempt to reproduce or generate content based on the Data.

5.    Requests. All requests for permission to access or use the Data for a purpose or in a manner not otherwise permitted under these Terms of Use must be made in writing to the Foundation, clearly stating the proposed purpose and manner of the use. Requests must be submitted to:

FINRA Investor Education Foundation, 1700 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006. (or via email at [email protected].)

The Foundation, in its sole discretion, may approve or reject any requests.

6.    Disclaimers; Limitation of Liability.

  1. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THE DATA IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITH ALL FAULTS AND THAT YOUR USE OF THE DATA SHALL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE FOUNDATION, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, AND LICENSORS (THE “FOUNDATION PARTIES”) DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE DATA AND YOUR USE THEREOF. THE FOUNDATION MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE QUALITY, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE DATA AND ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY: (I) ERRORS OR OMMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT; (II) TECHNICAL ERRORS AFFECTING THE DATA IN ANY WAY; (III) BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE DATA BY ANY THIRD PARTY; AND/OR (IV) LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF THE DATA.
  2. NO ADVICE, INFORMATION, OR DATA, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM THE FOUNDATION OR THROUGH OR FROM USE OF THE DATA SHALL BE INTENDED TO PROVIDE ANY LEGAL, TAX, INVESTMENT OR FINANCIAL ADVICE OR TO BE COMPLETE ON ANY SUBJECT MATTER CONTAINED THEREIN.
  3. IN NO EVENT WILL THE FOUNDATION PARTIES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOSS OF USE, DATA, BUSINESS OR PROFITS) OR FOR THE COST OF PROCURING SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OF USE OR THE USE OR DISTRIBUTION OF THE DATA, WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY ARISES FROM ANY CLAIM BASED UPON CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER OR NOT THE FOUNDATION HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGE. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THIS RESTRICTION MAY NOT APPLY.

7.    Privacy. In consideration of your use of the Data, you agree that the Foundation may collect generic tracking data related to your or your end users’ use of the Data in accordance with the Foundation website Privacy Policy found at https://finrafoundation.org/website-privacy-policy.

8.    Severability. If a court of competent jurisdiction holds any provision of these Terms of Use to be unenforceable, then that provision is to be construed either by modifying it to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable (if permitted by law) or disregarding it (if not). If an unenforceable provision is modified or disregarded in accordance with this Section, all other provisions of these Terms of Use are to remain in effect as written.

9.    Governing Law. These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and the Foundation with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersede all previous agreements between you and the Foundation with respect to such subject matter. These Terms of Use shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. You and the Foundation agree that any claim arising under these Terms of Use shall only be brought in the state or federal courts located in the County and State of New York. You and the Foundation agree to submit to personal jurisdiction in that court and expressly waive any right to a jury trial.