The health crisis has shown that not everyone has the same ability to cope with unforeseen situations that negatively affect our income and earning potential. But how can we prepare ourselves to take care of our finances in the face of unexpected events? Lara de Castro, HR Business Partner at 11Onze, and Gemma Vallet, Director of 11Onze District, talk to us about financial resilience in a new episode of Territori 17.

“Human beings always have two main choices: one is to stay stuck, and the other is to overcome and learn something from this crisis. Acquiring useful resources to face things that may happen in the future. And this is resilience”, explains Lara de Castro, and details why applying financial resilience can help us in a multitude of small unforeseen events that can destabilise our economy.

The ability to adapt to adverse economic situations is often determined by how we manage uncertainty and the level of our financial education. Still, two unfinished business for many of us. “Education today, and historically, does not teach us life skills. We have not been taught how to manage uncertainty, and this is a basic skill that we should learn from an early age,” says De Castro.

Having a financial plan for the future

Lara de Castro points out that financial resilience is based on three fundamental pillars: “Saving, financial education and a financial plan“. And in this context, she says that the consumerist society in which we live is not interested in people saving: “We are not aware of the need to save in order to face the unforeseen events and uncertainties of everyday life”.

Gemma Vallet adds that it is necessary to differentiate between personal financial management and the macroeconomic management of the country: “At the macroeconomic level, we also need a very powerful education to be able to anticipate this savings management. For example, you may be saving for your studies, but suddenly a war breaks out and this changes your entire financial planning”.

Precisely to combat this lack of financial education, 11Onze launched the Learn section at La Plaça, where we give our community the opportunity to learn about finance and the economy. If you want to know more about financial resilience, check out the Territori 17 podcast!

11Onze is the fintech community of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the super app El Canut on Android and Apple and join the revolution!