By Mariola Szymańska, President of EFPA Poland
Financial literacy is no longer optional — it is a life skill
Across Europe, citizens are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their financial futures. Longer life expectancy, pressure on public pension systems, inflation, and the growing complexity of financial markets all demand a higher level of individual financial capability than ever before.
Yet despite countless educational initiatives, research, and campaigns, financial literacy levels across EU remain stubbornly low. The question is no longer whether we need financial education, but why our current approaches are not delivering the impact we expect. And even more relevant, how we can change the situation.
During the recent Investor Education in Europe conference hosted by Better Finance, I had the opportunity to reflect on this challenge — and to share a message that is central to EFPA’s mission: knowledge alone is not enough. We need to change behaviour.
The behavioural gap: from reading to everyday practice
For years, financial education has focused on delivering knowledge — defining concepts, explaining market systems and processes, and providing information on a variety of products available. But knowing something does not automatically translate into educated and consistent actions.
People may know what should be done. They may even have the skills to do it, but still, they fail to do it. Why? Because for self-driven action you need motivation, which for adults predominantly comes from the ownership of an attractive and valued goal. In today’s turbulent times, I argue that for our personal finance THE GOAL is financial health, which means … (here comes our definition).
To reach the goal of financial health, also referred to as financial wellbeing, we need knowledge, we need skills, we need motivation. But finally, to we need to build strong, healthy financial habits. Just as reading about cycling does not teach you to ride a bicycle, reading about finance does not make you financially healthy. You must practice — consistently, repeatedly, and at best with professional support.
This is exactly where our current financial education efforts fall short. We teach instead of coaching people in their learning. We should assist people in collecting real life experiences in using financial products and services. Today’s financial education endeavours should not be about teaching but about empowering in personal finance.
What people really want from finance: peace of mind
One of the most important insights we must acknowledge is this: Most people do not want to spend hours managing their finances. And that is for a variety of reasons which we need to accept.
They want ease of use, simplicity, and peace of mind. They want to understand, they want to do it quickly, and they want to feel that they get it at a fair value. They want solutions that fit their choices and fit their lives.
The underlying foundation for this to work is trust. Trust, which is systemic, institutional but fundamentally relational. We are talking about the trust between the client and the financial advisor, a fiduciary financial trustee who knows me, who acts in my best interest, helping to manoeuvre through the complexity of today’s financial services and find the best fit between my needs and the offer provided by the financial institutions. He or she is my key financial educator and coach who assists me in building my financial wellbeing.
This is why financial education today should be an invitation to a lifelong learning journey which is action driven, hands on experience and well embedded in everyone’s life situation.
The irreplaceable role of financial advisors
Numerous research, including the latest by EFPA Europe and Better Finance, show that when it comes to important life financial decisions EU citizens consistently turn to financial advisors for financial guidance. This shows trust but simultaneously brings huge responsibility. You build trust in years; you can lose it very quickly.
This is why EFPA advocates for the consolidation of professional standards for financial advisors under a common European “golden label”. Our approach is straightforward and pragmatic. A golden label standard requires that a certificate is transparently described, well structured, with adequate validation tools, continuous professional development requirement, and based on strong code of professional ethics. This is needed to help citizens differentiate between quality ethical financial advice and poor service offerings, facilitating making an educated decision on choosing their trusted financial advisor.
If we take the principle of “client interest first” seriously, then talking about the key features of effective financial education we should not concentrate so much on independence of financial education, but competence, integrity, and accountability of the educators. A welltrained, professionally certified financial advisor, who is driven by strong ethical code, bring unbeatable quality to personalised, action driven financial education who transforms very often vaguely identified needs into actionable financial plan.
The new risks: influencers and AI
Digitalisation has opened the door to new forms of financial engagement — but also new threats and risk. Unregulated influencers, viral “tips”, and AIgenerated content blur the line between advice, marketing, and misinformation.
Regulating this space is extremely difficult. This makes education even more essential: Citizens must learn to distinguish real advice from noise, quality education from manipulation.
And while AI can support learning, filter and structure information, it cannot replace the human understanding required to interpret personal goals, emotions, and biases.
A practical solution: Financial Health Checks
To bridge the gap between knowledge and action, needs, goals and delivery, EFPA Poland has developed a simple, scalable model to help people build their financial health: the Financial Health Check.
In a onehour session provided pro-bono by volunteer EFPA Poland certified advisors, individuals:
- assess their current financial health,
- review the fundamentals of budgeting, saving, and risk,
- identify behavioural patterns,
- and set their first achievable goals.
It is not a lecture — it is a one-to-one confidential conversation with a professional which helps you put your finance in order, regain control and plan for a financially healthy future. It is not theory — it is practice. And it works because it meets and responds to people where they are.
A call to action for Global Money Week
Global Money Week brings us together to send the message that financial capability is not a privilege — it is a right of citizens in modern democratic societies. It serves as the foundation of freedom, equality and prosperity. To be more effective in our common work for financial literacy, we must rethink our approach.
To policy makers:
Support all-encompassing social campaigns to build awareness and recognition for a new culture of financial health for citizens. Support the indispensable need for a human professional financial advisor to be the coach of financial health training to the clients of financial services.
To educators and institutions:
Reconfigure your approach from teaching to supporting life-long learning experiences of people. Focus on building healthy financial habits, not just knowledge. Make learning practical, personal, and continuous.
To citizens:
Take the first step. Start your financial training once a week, with a good financial training coach. Financial wellbeing is built gradually, but if you persevere you will feel the results. It’s like riding your bike. The more you ride, the further you go.
Financial health is an integrated part of our overall wellbeing. It affects our physical, psychological and social health. If we take responsibility for it, we can always improve our financial health, but no one can do it for us. We have to jump on the bike ourselves. We can and we should turn for help and support in this ride. The community of professional certified financial advisors of EFPA Europe are happy to assist you in this journey. Within the Global Money Week and every day.