> one doesn’t think of ETFs and carried interest

This is more financial savvy than literacy.

Financial literacy is mostly learning how to not get screwed. Understanding the cost of check-cashing services. Knowing that you should not be paying a monthly fee for a basic bank account. Learning how to file a tax return and collect your credits and refunds. Knowing how to opt out of overdraft protection. Knowing how to compare credit card offers. Learning about sending money home via money order versus TransferWise versus Bitcoin.

These are powerful intellectual tools. If you’re born into the middle class, you got them informally. If you weren’t, you likely didn’t. That’s an oddity somewhat orthogonal to the economic plight.