Fifteen to twenty-five years in school, and not a single hour dedicated to money: this is why this educational gap is so costly for the French, and how to fill it oneself.
Fifteen to twenty-five years in school, and not a single hour dedicated to money: this is why this educational gap is so costly for the French, and how to fill it oneself.
Bac, bachelor's degree, master's degree, doctorate... between 15 and 25 years spent in the French school system, digesting mathematics, languages, history, or life sciences. Yet, one subject is always missing, year after year, reform after reform.
That subject is money. The one that governs our daily lives, influences our happiness, and drives the entire global economy. One can graduate from a prestigious business school without ever having learned to manage their own finances, which seems absurd when you think about it for two minutes.
With each new reform of the National Education system, we hope to finally find a course on personal finance. And every time, it's the same disappointment: nothing changes. As if the topic of money remains taboo, almost suspicious, in a country that prides itself on being the cradle of free speech.
In France, talking about money remains almost impolite. People prefer to discuss their health or love life rather than their salary or savings. Not long ago, a president even declared that his enemy was the world of finance, which quite well summarizes the ambiguous relationship our country has with this subject.
Yet money is neither dirty nor dangerous in itself. It is simply a tool, a means to access more freedom and choices in life. It determines where we can live, how we can take care of ourselves, when we can go on vacation, or when we can stop working.
Ignoring this discreet pillar of our daily lives does not make it disappear; it only shifts the problem. The majority of people, completely lost when faced with this topic that has never been explained to them, prefer to ignore it or, worse, to delegate it entirely to a third party without questioning it.
The lack of control over one's finances is not just a temporary inconvenience; it generates real stress, sometimes even depression. It's not just an impression: in Canada, 48% of residents report suffering from insomnia due to money worries. This staggering figure clearly indicates that we are dealing with a genuine public health issue, not just a simple discomfort.
This phenomenon is not unique to any particular country; it affects all developed societies where money management remains a blind spot in education. Financial stress erodes sleep, concentration, and personal relationships. It creates a climate of constant anxiety among people who, nonetheless, sometimes earn a very decent living.
The paradox is cruel: people are asked to manage a resource as central as money without ever being given the codes to do so. As a result, many navigate blindly, making significant financial decisions (mortgages, savings, life insurance) without truly understanding the mechanisms involved.
There is still some good news: according to the Bank of France, the French are among the best savers in Europe, if not the world, when it comes to saving. On average, a French household saves 17.2% of its net income, compared to only 7% for an Italian household. In this regard, we cannot say that the French are poor students.
The problem is that this savings often sits in low-yielding accounts. The famous Livret A, with its 400 billion euros in assets, is the preferred investment of the French: amount guaranteed by the state, tax-free interest, generous ceiling. On paper, everything seems perfect.
In reality, it is a disastrous long-term investment. With a rate struggling to exceed inflation, the money invested mechanically loses purchasing power year after year. Investing 10,000 euros at 1.5% for 10 years yields 11,605 euros gross, but with an inflation rate of 2.5% per year, this amount is only worth 9,043 euros in purchasing power. We save well, but we do not invest, and this is precisely what the educational gap never corrects.
Every year, millions of young French people enter the workforce after having taken exactly zero minutes of classes on money management. They are expected to know, as if by magic, how to save, invest, avoid the pitfalls of financial products, or understand their pay slip.
This lack of training creates fertile ground for misconceptions. Many believe that you need to be rich to start investing, that the stock market is a giant casino, or that their banker will always manage their money better than they can. These deeply rooted beliefs prevent millions of people from taking action.
The result is a generation that defaults to delegation, lacking alternatives. However, delegating without understanding often means paying dearly for a service that does not always serve one's own interests. This is where the educational void turns into a significant loss over a lifetime.
Even graduating from a prestigious school specializing in finance does not guarantee anything on a personal level. One can very well master global economic theory without ever having learned how to structure their own budget or choose an investment envelope suited to their goals.
It is from this observation, and without any background or real experience in managing personal finances, that it becomes possible to self-educate. This takes time: ten years of learning, testing, making mistakes, and starting over before developing a method that truly works.
This solitary journey illustrates the underlying problem: the learning of personal finance almost always relies on individual initiative, never on structured teaching. Those who lack the time, desire, or resources to educate themselves are left by the wayside, doomed to repeat the same mistakes as everyone else.
One of the most persistent misconceptions is that finance is reserved for an elite capable of deciphering obscure concepts. One must know all available investments, master the tax code in its minutest details, be a whiz on the markets, and an exceptional accountant. This is simply false.
In reality, the simplest strategies are often the most effective. Understanding the mechanism of compound interest is enough to change one’s perspective on saving: an initial capital that generates interest, reinvested each year, ultimately grows almost exponentially over the long term. For example, investing 1,000 euros at 8% per year for 40 years allows you to multiply that capital by 21.
Similarly, it is enough to understand a few key concepts, such as the difference between active and passive management, or the devastating impact of fees on performance, to regain control. A simple percentage point of additional fees each year can represent, over 30 years, nearly half of the final capital consumed. These are not calculations reserved for experts; they are accessible fundamentals for everyone, provided one takes the time to explain them once and for all.
In the face of this void, initiatives have been developed to freely share this basic knowledge with as many people as possible. The idea is to make accessible what seemed reserved for a few insiders by simply explaining the mechanisms of saving, investing, and taxation.
This involves platforms that allow individuals to track their assets and budget in one place, educational content widely disseminated through video, and exchange spaces where individuals can ask their questions without jargon or judgment. The goal is never to sell a complicated financial product, but rather to provide the keys to understand what is being offered.
This approach stems from a simple observation: no one is better positioned than oneself to manage their own finances, provided they have received a minimum of foundational knowledge. Learning to distinguish a good investment from a bad one, to identify excessive fees, or to choose a tax envelope suited to one's objectives is exactly what schools should have been teaching long ago.
Filling this educational gap does not happen all at once. Personal finance is not a subject that you learn once and then put away in a drawer: tax rules change, rates evolve, and savings products transform over time with reforms.
Set a clear goal: financial independence, home purchase, retirement preparation, it doesn't matter what the objective is as long as it is personal and embracedBuild an allocation tailored to your needs rather than following a trendAutomate as many decisions as possible to protect yourself from your own biases (automatic transfers to savings, scheduled contributions)Accept setbacks as part of the learning process, without getting discouraged by the first failureContinue to educate yourself regularly, as the financial environment is constantly evolving
Spending just an hour each month on your personal finances is more than enough to maintain control in the long term. It’s little compared to the time many spend each day on social media, and the return on this time investment often amounts to tens of thousands of euros over a lifetime. The educational gap left by school cannot be filled in a day, but it can be filled step by step, as soon as one decides to stop burying their head in the sand.
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