“Financial Literacy”

Financial Literacy is the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills,
including personal financial management, budgeting, and investing. Financial literacy is
crucial as it equips you with the knowledge and tools needed to make strong informed
decisions. Without it, the financial decisions we do make, or do not make, can potentially
threaten your financial security. As far as I know, financial literacy can be through
experience or attending seminars from people like Chinkee Tan who is a Finance Expert,
you could also read books about finance that is also recommended by Finance Experts by
being curious and have the will to explore and take risks. Therefore, what seems to be a
problem in Financial Literacy? Why do we need to introduce this earlier for some students
or teens?
“The study also showed that Filipinos lack specific knowledge to make informed financial
decisions. However, the same study indicated that money management habits formed in
childhood stay into adulthood. Those who began saving as children display better attitudes
to saving and tend to outperform their counterpart group who did not develop the habit
early in the areas of choosing financial products and services, monitoring expenses, and
planning for retirement,” the BSP said. This statement is taken from an article in
www.bworldonline.com/boosting-filipinos-financial-literacy-one-program-at-a-time/
about the problem of Financial Literacy of Filipinos. I as a student, I am one of the
children/teens that display better attitudes to saving and I am striving to become an
entrepreneur that would be reselling sneakers such as Jordan, Nike, Adidas and many
more. I received this motivation to earn money by watching Tiktoks of some Finance
Experts like Chinkee Tan, MJ Lopez, and Gary Vaynerchuk that inspired me to invest in
some things and how important my time and effort I will put in my primary job that they
are claiming that it isn’t enough to overcome the inflation rate 2.8% as of 2021 that is
projected to raise up to 3.1% in 2022 as told by FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast, for
you to be financially free.
Financial Literacy can help us overcome this type of problem in every one’s life, which
leads to every family being bankrupt or poor. Chinkee Tan and the others are inspiring and
motivative as they can be, but we still need to act for our own financial freedom and as
some calls it, “hustle” or “hustling” that means working hard to earn money to become
successful. Told by Gary Vaynerchuk in one of his Tiktok videos, that being 16-25 years old
is still considered as young for him that he would give everything up just to have that time,
and watching that video sparked something within me that it made me regret some days
that I slacked off where I could be working or learning new things to help myself be better
and successful. Upon discovering Financial Literacy, I discovered that there is categories or
branches that can give us extra earnings besides our primary job. They are:
 Real Estate
 Cryptocurrency
 Stock Market
 Reselling
 Small Business Institutions
 Service/Skill-based Business
And many more, that even in case that you will be fired or will quit to your primary job
some of your side hustles can cover for you as you search for new a new job. Financial
Literacy is will be a big part of our lives once we reach the age of 16 or 17 because at some
point the burden of having no money will be bigger and heavier for us and at this point, we
should start saving and/or start to invest to some things whether will be for your career,
shoes, toys. For me, money can be earned from everywhere that you never know, that the
object beside you made someone rich.
To clear some things, Financial Literacy is not telling you to quit your primary job or lose
focus in it. It only wants you to have some passive income that can provide more earnings
for your expenses. Also, Financial Literacy is not all about earning but also about saving
your money and gives you ideas like: What is the difference of Credit Cards and Debit
Cards, and how not to be tricked by some schemes in banks causing you to pay more. It also
gives you some options where you can store your money other than the banks you know,
that gives more interest over time that can increase your money annually. Basically, it is
investing and saving at the same time.
Therefore, I want to have an early introduction in Financial Literacy to give an idea to some
students how can we overcome poverty in our lives and by having this we could also help
each other to strive for success and help the needy. I think it could impact our economy as a
country if the teens today can have the ability to earn money for themselves that gives
them experience upon facing the challenges of life. It will make our lives easier and better
by knowing how important investing and saving is, and it will also help the country flourish
its economy if many will follow the instructions/tips of some Finance Experts in Financial
Literacy. I want this to happen to help me and others to become successful and achieve
financial freedom and one of my dreams is to retire early but still earning income passively.
In fact, BSP (Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas) runs BSP runs “Economic and Financial Learning
Program” (EFLP), its flagship initiative for financial education. According to the central
bank, this is in line with its drive to promote greater awareness and understanding of
essential economic and financial issues that will help the Filipino public acquire the
knowledge and develop the skills to make well-informed economic and financial decisions
and choices. The program is composed of learning sessions aimed at different audiences.
One is the Financial Education Expo, which is designed for students, teachers, and other
members of the academe, as well as employees and professionals from the public and
private sectors. It is a two- to three-day long affair offering various financial education
activities. (This statement is from the URL I provided in the 1 st page).
I was surprised seeing the article that this was implemented around July 2019 and yet I
have not much experienced the curriculum about the EFLP. Although, Economics were
taught and some of Business Math as an elective subject but still, I think there is more to
explore about and this is what I want in my advocacy, by exploring the gray areas about
Financial Literacy and Financial Freedom. This advocacy paper made me more curious
about the topic that Tiktok videos is not enough anymore to give me an idea to be
successful someday. I stand with my advocacy to have a curriculum in schools about the
thorough introduction of Financial Literacy.
According to an article in Forbes, they have 5 reasons to why Financial Literacy/Personal
Finance should be taught in schools (American Schools) by Liz Frazier (Financial Planner)
1. Money touches everything.
At 18 years old, kids are thrust out into a world where every step they take from
graduation to retirement will be directly impacted by their financial knowledge and
money management skills.
2. The Majority of Americans want personal finance taught in schools.
When it comes to financial education in schools, many adults feel that more should
be done to help students get a head start.
3. Lack of financial knowledge has painful consequences.
Finances are understandably one of the major causes of stress for adults. Everyone
can relate to this stress; even the wealthiest people have felt financial pains at one
time or another.
4. Financial literacy leads to a healthier life.
More than half (51%) of millennial respondents surveyed answered that they feel
their level of personal finance knowledge is holding them back from making
financial progress, compared with just 43% of Gen Z and 26% of Gen X and older.
5. Where else will they learn it?
The study showed that in lieu of school-sponsored personal finance lessons, many
Americans turn to alternative sources of money advice and information. For
example, 41% of respondents said they are self-taught, while 37% said their parents
taught them about finances. Just 12% said they learned about personal finance from
teachers.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizfrazierpeck/2019/08/29/5-reasons-personal-finance-
should-be-taught-in-school/?sh=64c1b8f75178
The article may be for American schools, yet I think that it is applicable to all countries
especially for our country that our economy needs a push to be a fully developed country.
We really should have a curriculum exclusively for the purpose of Financial Literacy.