Presentation: Results of the Financial Health Perceptions Research

The General Foundation of the University of Salamanca, through the International Centre on Ageing (CENIE), is promoting the holding of a meeting in collaboration with the Madrid College of Economists, with the aim of analysing and determining the perception that Spaniards have of their financial health, especially in the current and future context of a constant increase in longevity. In this context, financial health is of paramount importance, as it depends on the decisions taken throughout active working life with regard to planning for retirement.

The proposed event, which will be held at the emblematic headquarters of the Madrid College of Economists, is part of the "Notes for a long-lived society" cycle, which aims to lay the scientific foundations on which future CENIE research will be developed, and which will attempt to contribute to the necessary redefinition of the Welfare State in the new long-lived societies.

The presentation of the research, the results of which will be presented at this conference, is part of the New Long-Lived Societies project, following the lines of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Interreg Programme, Spain-Portugal, (POCTEP), 2021-2027. This action is part of CENIE's strategy to promote a socio-economic change in our society, which allows longevity to be understood as an achievement and an extraordinary opportunity to advance in the construction of a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable social model.

Objective

CENIE wants to make financial health a fundamental factor, promoting educational work that provides basic and essential knowledge. To this end, it has developed a research project focused on how our financial choices determine and condition our quality of life. This research, at the request of CENIE, has been carried out by two teams of researchers, leaders in the scientific analysis, dissemination and application of behavioural sciences in the social, economic, financial and educational environment. It is therefore a choral work, under the direction of Diego Valero, CENIE researcher and professor at the University of Barcelona. As a first step to promote an ongoing action plan, the research will lead to the presentation of an introductory online course on financial health, in which to learn and appreciate how personal finances have a direct influence on guaranteeing an adequate quality of life. And even more so at a time when society is becoming increasingly long-lived. The course will also be presented during the event.

Presentation

According to demographic projections, by 2040 Spain will become the world's longest-living country, which means that the life span of Spaniards will be longer than ever before. However, the Spanish population in general shows a great lack of real knowledge about financial health; about how the human mind acts in the face of the most common impulses and how to plan our financial decisions correctly.

The session will focus on the need for people to equip themselves with instruments that enable them to plan and manage their financial health, thus avoiding unwanted circumstances, especially in the post-labour period, one of the pillars for consolidating the Welfare State that Spain enjoys. The event will feature the participation of the American economist Shlomo Benartzi, one of the world's leading experts in behavioural economics, known for his research on retirement savings and co-author, together with Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler, of Save More Tomorrow. Dr. Shlomo Benartzi is currently Professor Emeritus at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA in Los Angeles, California, and will be in conversation with Spain's Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá.

Event participants

• José Luis Escrivá, Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration of Spain. 
• Ricardo Rivero Ortega, Rector of the University of Salamanca. 
• Amelia Pérez Zabaleta, Dean-President of the Madrid College of Economists. 
• Shlomo Benartzi, American behavioural economist and co-author of Save More Tomorrow.
• Óscar González Benito, Director of the General Foundation of the University of Salamanca and Professor of Economics.
• Diego Valero, CENIE researcher and director of the report.
• Jaime García: CENIE researcher and coordinator of the report.
• Fernando Tejada, Director of the Bank of Spain's Department of Institutional Conduct.
• Francisca Gómez-Jover, Deputy Director General of Organisation, Studies and Complementary Social Welfare of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.
• María Eugenia Cadenas, coordinator of Financial Education at the CNMV.
• Juan Carlos Delrieu; Director of Sustainability of the Spanish Banking Association.
• Pablo Antonio Muñoz Gallego, Professor of Economics at the University of Salamanca and CENIE researcher.. 

Please confirm your attendance, limited capacity. Click here to register. The event will be streamed from the CENIE website and registration is also required.