Financial awareness and the importance of financial literacy
We post articles each week on various aspects of life as an international or expat in Europe in relation to managing your investment, pensions and your money in general.
We provide this information because as expats ourselves we have seen first hand how it can be harder than expected to navigate a new environment with different regulations, structures, opportunities and to know the best way to manage your financial lives.
The benefits of financial education are many:
It will help you to reach your financial potential
You can be more engaged with your financial and investment adviser
You have a better knowledge of how to manage a changing economic and financial landscape
You can protect yourself against the more nefarious aspects of the financial world. Remembering that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is, you can avoid finding yourself in a position where you are vulnerable.
So where can you go to find out more information?
There is ample information on expat websites across Europe, however we urge you to make sure the information is a) current– always check when it was written, and b) relevant for you– does it apply to your passport and the country you are living in?
There are traditional seminars being held in most big cities across Europe, but PowerPoint overload and a barely disguised hard product sell can sometimes make for uncomfortable events.
One good option is to attend a Webinar. You can view from your computer at home or your office without having to travel, but you do lose the chance to interact with the presenters, ask questions and importantly hear the clever questions from others in the room. They can be useful all the same and Black Swan Capital regularly hosts webinars on a range of topics for expats in Europe.
Newsletters are a useful source of information. On our home page, you can subscribe to our newsletter, an easy way to receive regular, current and specific information for expats in Europe.
Another great way to find out information and have your questions answered is to attend our information events. No boring long presentations and no products to be pushed! That’s a key advantage of Black Swan Capital holding an independent license: we are here for our clients. We run education evenings where the topics presented are driven by the people in the room. They are interactive, informal, educational and most importantly, practical. Information you can take away and apply to your life as an expat in Europe.
We are hosting our Money Matters event and Q&A on Tuesday 3 December in our head office in Amsterdam. You can register to attend here.
Why is financial education needed?
Financial literacy is a topic that most people can improve. Research from The Wharton School has shown that even amongst the most highly educated professionals in the USA, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland, that 30% of people could not correctly answer the three fundamental financial literacy questions. These covered inflation, risk and interest rates. Extending that to the broader population, almost 50% of people across 21 countries cannot attain the minimum score.
An OECD survey shows that people struggle with choosing financial products; things like opening savings accounts, taking out loans, or structuring investments seem daunting to newcomers. Less than half attempt to comparison shop and only 20% actually research their options.
What does this mean? It means that we can all benefit from improving our financial literacythrough financial education. If you want to be more financially savvy, attend our next event and look out for future events hosted by Black Swan Capital in Europe.
