October 5th is the Financial Education Day. A day dedicated to analysis, reflection, and debate about why, what, how, and when.
Financial Education Plans, initiated in 2008 and developed by the Bank of Spain and the National Securities Market Commission, emerged in response to the European Community's recommendations to improve citizens' financial literacy. With this same purpose, the Organic Law of Education of December 2013 introduced financial education content into primary education curricula. Alongside this, a debate has been generated among different sectors of society seeking to address some questions such as:
WHY?
The answer can be found in the Constitution itself:
"Education is a fundamental right to promote freedom and personal autonomy." It's about KNOWING, having the knowledge and tools necessary to UNDERSTAND the essentials of the world around us and to be able to DECIDE for oneself.
WHAT?
Understanding finance means understanding the basic fundamentals of economics that are part of our lives and our social relationships. Understanding the connection between the productive system where we generate goods and services that meet our needs, the market where we exchange those goods and services, and the financial system and money flows that make this mechanism possible.
From understanding, one can delve deeper into terms such as: Interest Rate, Inflation, GDP, etc., which will accompany us throughout life, and into financial concepts and products such as Return on Investment, Investment, Spending and commission, Rating, Checking Account and Savings Account, Debit Card and Credit Card, Leasing and Renting, Investment Fund, Fixed-Term Deposit, etc., or new models like Crowdlending and Crowdfactoring.
HOW?
It must be objective and as consensual as possible.
Most of the criticism of introducing economic and financial knowledge into the educational system comes from the confusion between educating and indoctrinating. In contrast to the concept of education, indoctrination is the set of measures, educational practices, and propaganda aimed at instilling certain values or ways of thinking in the subjects to whom they are directed.
Another aspect that has done a lot of damage to economic and financial science is the disconnection from other social and ethical values; bad practices and speculation have given a negative image in society. Recovering those values is a priority.
WHEN?
This question cannot be answered without the help of the educational community, teachers and pedagogues, along with economists and the administration itself. Knowing the evolution of learning conditions the subject matter to be taught in the different educational stages and how to do it.
The Financial Crisis and its consequences highlighted the training deficiencies in economic and financial matters in society, and a day like today serves to take stock of the current situation and to set the course to follow. Education is the best antidote against abuses and bad practices and is what can prevent us from making the same mistakes.
At INVERSA, we are convinced that an informed and educated client is an empowered client, and new financial models must be aimed at a client capable of making their own decisions and much more demanding in terms of values and transparency.
Our Inverse Academy is focused on educating and helping to understand the financial world and crowdfactoring in particular. Customer service as reinforcement to clarify any doubts is a priority for us; through chat, email, or telephone, or on channels like Telegram, we address all the questions posed by our clients.
At Inversa, "You choose, you decide".
