"The financial literacy of young people is best expressed by the financial literacy of their parents," explained Kaspars Peisenieks, executive director of Investoru Klubs (Investors Club), on Latvian Television's "Rīta Panorāma" program. Investoru Klubs is a finance and investment news and information portal.
Peisenieks stressed that in certain respects Latvia does well in the basic aspects of financial literacy in that people tend not to spend all their money or take out excessive credit, but also admitted that there are problems with savings management.
Latvian citizens have considerable savings in banks, but they tend to be kept in the bank rather than invested in a more active manner. It would be good to be able to cultivate and increase these savings, says Peisenieks, emphasizing that it is difficult to start due to a lack of knowledge and also because it is difficult to change habits.
The first stage of this social initiative started already on February 1 - in each of the 20 schools, Kaspars Peisenieks and his colleagues will lead one class for senior students, where they will explain what investments in stocks and bonds are, what investment strategies and platforms are, what is the minimum investment amount, what taxes to pay, and what is the difference between independent management of assets and entrusting investments to a professional investor or a bank.
