Last week I had the pleasure of delivering a multi-session programme on financial literacy to over 70 students and early-career professionals at the headquarters of the Nation-Building Institute in Bangkok. The NBI is a think tank focused on nation building, leadership development and regional governance. The event was organised and hosted by the esteemed Professor Doctor Kriengsak Charoenwonsak, Chairman of the NBI and holder of many other senior academic positions.
Our discussions were spread over nearly four hours and ranged from the basics of budgeting and saving to many of the more complex questions surrounding risk, long-term planning and financial decision-making.
In today’s world, financial ignorance is costly. Without a working understanding of money, risks (particularly behavioural risks) and incentives, many individuals are left navigating largely blind in an increasingly complex financial landscape. While these sessions were aimed primarily at a younger audience, in reality, financial literacy matters at every stage of life. Yet it is rarely formally taught in schools and, for most people, reliable and objective guidance is surprisingly hard to find.
My own interest in the subject goes back almost a decade, when I was asked to give a presentation to the Emirates Foundation in Abu Dhabi on financial literacy. This focused particularly on the high levels of borrowing being undertaken by many, particularly younger, people and the resulting severe financial pressures that followed.
The sessions were very well received and the breakout discussions were especially rewarding with participants, divided into groups, debating specific topics and reporting back on their conclusions. It is planned to undertake further sessions for student communities elsewhere later this year. Also under consideration is a second, more investment-focused programme to build further on some of the issues already raised.
I believe it is certainly time financial literacy moved from the margins to the mainstream.
#financialliteracy #financialeducation #behaviouralfinance #youtheducation