In this article financial literacy is considered as the most important factor of increase of activity of citizens in the securities market and, as a consequence, development of the Russian securities market. The data on the level of citizens’ involvement in the investment process in the organized securities market of the Russian Federation and the level of financial education of citizens as a whole are analyzed. The article considers the main problems hindering the effective development of the Russian securities market, as well as the problems of low level of financial literacy of the population and, as a consequence, investment activity in the Russian securities market. The authors suggest not only ways to solve the existing problems, but also consider existing measures to address them from the state.