- Finance Finland considers it important that every Finn is capable of managing his or her personal finances. Good financial literacy improves equality and gives people more opportunities in life.
- Everyone should be equipped for life with a toolset that covers wise spending habits, insurance against personal and property risks, and what entrepreneurship, saving and investing entail.
- Finland has drawn up a national strategy for financial literacy, setting the objective that Finns will have the world’s best financial literacy by 2030. Finance Finland supports this objective in active cooperation with other Finnish organisations and associations.
The content areas of financial literacy are defined in the financial competence frameworks jointly published by the European Commission and the OECD.
Finance Finland’s financial literacy measures are focused especially on the following content areas:
- Digital literacy and consumer skills – Nearly all personal financial management tools are digital. Without these tools, fully independent financial management is no easy task.
- Ability to identify scams – Finns lose millions of euros to different kinds of scams and fraud each year. Digitalisation provides fraudsters opportunities to develop new and more convincing methods to lure in victims.
- Insurance literacy – Knowing how to protect oneself against risks is an essential aspect of financial literacy. Despite this, insurance often gets disregarded when financial literacy is discussed.
- Saving and investing skills – Wealth creation through saving and investing should be accessible to everyone. This requires an understanding of how investment works.
- Planning for old age – Health-related expenses can increase as a person grows older and their ability to function begins to deteriorate. Income also drops with retirement, which makes it important to plan and prepare for long-term financial needs well in advance.
Over the years, financial literacy measures have focused especially on the young. While youth are a very important focus group, they are by no means the only one. Improving financial literacy is important for everyone. The ageing population and young adults learning to navigate independent living are in particular need of support.
Finnish financial sector entities are fully invested in promoting financial literacy in Finland. Banks offer customers of all ages access to free-of-charge financial literacy education, support and advice.
Finance Finland is a founding member of Junior Achievement (JA) Finland, which provides financial, working life and entrepreneurship skills to Finnish youth through the national school system.