The terms Education or, in a broader sense, Financial Literacy are increasingly being used in our everyday lives. Every day, companies, banks and consultants talk about the subject, and at the same time, programmes, training courses, workshops, games and various other tools are emerging to teach us how to look at money in a healthy way.
But what exactly is this much-discussed topic that should be communicated to schoolchildren, young adolescents, adults, senior citizens, families, or, in short, the entire population?
Financial education or literacy refers to a set of basic information on how to better manage one's money. It involves tools for drawing up and controlling personal or family budgets – such as buying, saving and investing and, in general, how to spend money wisely in order to achieve goals in a rational and balanced way.
When AESS was founded in 2013, financial education was still a taboo subject, especially when it came to discussing it in schools, where we began our work. Families always kept how they managed their money to themselves and decided whether or not to pass this knowledge on to their children. Getting someone outside the school to bring this topic to children and, consequently, to families, was a battle that was fought for some time.
The professional experience of the founders of AESS, as financial consultants and banking professionals, made them realise early on that the process of teaching money management should start as early as possible. That is why they focused on children as their target audience and why we have always used the term “education”, because that is what it is all about: educating people to manage money. However, this must be an ongoing process. The breakneck pace of change in today's world leads us to conclude that this is a never-ending process that involves a lifetime.
Having a financially healthy life, or as we at AESS advocate, being a Financially Healthy Citizen, means turning money into an ally. To do this, as with everything in life, you need to make a plan, in this case a financial plan or budget. The important thing is to look at money and understand how we should use (manage) it and not let ourselves be used by it, which is what happens when we have debts and lose control of what we earn, that is, we spend more than we have.
In simple terms, we can say that this plan consists of dividing the money we have into three main parts: expenses/debts, dreams/goals, savings/investments. But for this to be so simple or realistic, we need discipline and method. This does not mean that we have to stop doing what we enjoy, but rather that we have to find a balance between what we want and what we can do.
In the year in which we celebrate nine years of activity and in which Financial Education is the project with which we identify, because it was the project that gave us our start, we have decided to launch our blog on Financial Education.
Launched on 11 January because it was precisely on the 11th, in this case in June 2013, that we were born, this blog aims to publish a text every month for sharing and debate. Over the months, we will discuss topics that are part of our Financial Education programme and how to be a Financially Healthy Citizen, from childhood to old age, through the different stages of life, because in all of them there are needs and desires that we must ensure and fulfil.
Stay tuned because next month we will start talking about Money and answer questions and queries about:
What is Money?
How important is money?
Financial Management or Financial Education?
At what age should you talk to children about money?
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