Last 20 December I participated in the Onorato Castellino Lesson established by CERP (European Centre for Research on Pensions - University of Turin), to remind the professor, a founder and first president of the Fondazione Collegio Carlo Alberto.
The lesson, now in its third edition, by Title "The financial ignorance: a problem (rimediabile) of our times”, was held by the Prof. Annamaria Lusardi.
Landlady, at the Carlo Alberto College of Moncalieri, it was the Prof. Elsa Fornero (scientific director of the CERP) who immediately highlighted the reasons why the Center she represented is dealing with financial education and the reason for the choice of Prof. Annamaria Lusardi, considered an Italian woman of talent, and among the leading experts on international.
Operating in the board room of Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, Turin side (President Angelo Benessia, Sister Juliana and Andrea Beltratti), Prof.ssa Lusardi began by recalling the figure of Prof.. Onorato Castellino, she knew at the Bocconi University for a course on pensions, to which she had been assigned as an assistant by Prof.. Mario Monti.
He listed the major changes underway in the western world: demographic changes, labor market and financial markets, understood as the complexity of financial products: “These changes shift the risk on the individual”.
Then he went on to focus on changes in the lending industry, that the great increase in debt (calculator, personal finance, credit cards and revolving) and how the individual has become the decider of debt: “for those unfamiliar with the calculation of the compound interest rate it is not easy to understand when the debt becomes too high and if you are running the risk of bankruptcy”.
“The financial planning therefore becomes necessary and essential to the economic stability of the individual as well as families”.
Then he presented data from a financial literacy test carried out in the US which showed that, most families are unfamiliar with the financial calculation, l’inflazione (that weighs heavily on savings accumulated over the years) and risk diversification.
Also adopted in Italy, this test (Bank of Italy has made an investigation in recent years) tells us that in the beautiful country, financial literacy is low.
It also demonstrated how the financial ignorance has a negative impact on the economy of a country, creating for its citizens, high debt and inadequate allocation of their savings.
“It 's a tax on the poor: those who can not use them unless the securities and pay more. The elderly, for example, people are more prone to fraud and deception”.
Finally, highlighted the possible solution to remedy this problem:
“development of financial education starting from school, continuing in the workplace and in general for all adults, because at any age is the need to make financial decisions”.
Click here to see the opening in a short video
Alex Gaetani