Financial education is defined as the process by which financial consumer or investor improves their understanding of financial products, concepts and risk and through information, instruction and / or objective advice, develop the skill and confidence to become more aware of financial risks and opportunities, to make informed choices, to know where to go for help and to take other effective actions to improve their financial well-being (OECD, 2005). Some of the key learnings on financial education, which everyone should be aware about:
• Do not work for money, let the money work for us. We must have heard the very famous phrase “live to work or work to live”. Most people work to live. Most people having financial problems, either they stick with the problem or ask for a pay raise to their employer. Else, they start searching higher paying jobs so they can earn more money. This is the cycle most middle and working-class people fall into. On the other hand, successful people “make money” and do not work to earn it. In other words, they buy assets that generate income.
• Learn to differentiate between assets and liabilities. An asset is something that puts money in our pocket and a liability is something that takes money out of our pocket. In this sense, successful people acquire assets i.e. Gold, Real estate, Securities, Gold Bonds, Invest in Pension Schemes, FDs, other return generating investments which yield profit and gains for them. On the other hand, most other normal people add liabilities. This is the main difference that can interrupt the future development of someone’s personal finances.
• Do not work to earn money; work to learn. Work should be used as a platform to improve the skills we already have. We should find a job where we can learn the skills. Learning can make us much more knowledgeable and can equip us with unique skills to improve our professional situation.
• Money is not our greatest asset. Normally people thinks, more money will solves all our problems; but if we think so, we might have problems in our entire life. If we are prepared to be flexible, open mind, and keen to learn, the chances to get richer may increase. Intelligence solves problems and produces money, and money without financial intelligence may quickly lose.
• Reduce the spending as much as possible. It is advised to have as little debt or low as possible because, in the end, it hampers the financial freedom we want to achieve and hence reduce the liabilities. Debt is a double-edged sword that most people hold without training. Some figure it out and manage to get through their early encounters with debt unscathed. Others injure themselves and their loved ones without intending to. We should always keep in mind the difference between the “positive” debt, like a mortgage, and the “negative” debt, like quick loans.
• Do not depend exclusively on financial advisors. We all have great insights into the finance that makes up our own personal finances. Getting help from any financial advisor can be useful, but we also need to have control over our own money. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, accordingly, learning fishing instead of borrowing it from someone. Learn how to invest because nobody will do it better than us.