(Bloomberg) – Over the past decade, Americans got a crash course in money management. The financial crisis and the great recession offered a ton of lessons — the dangers of debt being a big one — while making it impossible to ignore the topic of finance.

That's still the case today — just look at the popularity of movies like The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short. But has it helped? A new study does show more Americans are getting their financial acts together. The question is whether they're getting smarter or just a little wealthier thanks to a stronger economy. The survey of more than 25,000 Americans by the Finra Investor Education Foundation suggests they may be as confused as ever.

The good news

The finances of Americans are less fragile than they were seven years ago. Compare the results of a survey released this month with similar polls conducted in 2009 and 2012 by the foundation, part of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a nonprofit that helps regulate Wall Street.

People did have some wind at their backs, however. The unemployment rate has fallen from 9.5 percent in June 2009 to 4.9 percent last month. Finra found that the number of respondents who saw an "unexpected income drop" in the past year is way down, from 40 percent in 2009 to 22 percent in 2015. Also, the survey found more Americans have health insurance, almost certainly due to the Affordable Care Act, from 78 percent in 2012 to 87 percent last year.

The decline of debt

Americans may have also gotten the message on how dangerous debt can be. For example, more than half of Americans now say they pay off their credit cards every month.