Let's talk about money!
Actually, about financial literacy.

I grew up in an "accountant" household (the real one, not TikTok accountant).
I went for a masters in economics.

I STILL didn't know sh*it about money until my 30s.
Why?

Classism & Sexism

My money journey was riddled with "locked doors". Coming from a poor post-war country, many opportunities were completely locked off. That's a fact.

The major thing that fed the beast of ignorance is that most money topics revolved around "how others stole money" & nepotism.

While both topics rang true, they also presented an obstacle for a regular person to learn more. Most of my peers didn't understand financial products. In school, classes focused so heavily on theory, & macro terms, dissociating the individual from the applicability of such.

They made these topics "very boring" for us. Of course it was boring, it didn't apply to us. It applied to a rich man who can buy his way out. The only sense of financial literacy we knew was that you should own a house. The risk adversity was high...investments - 0 points.

Once I moved to the US, I was thrust into the world where credit cards were given to literal children. Unlike Croatia where credit lines were limited, here, the topics were the same, but people were given buying power - one that doesn't match their income. Shit was wild.

My Croatian risk adversity saved me from not becoming a credit card abuser, but it also opened up the door to see that these people won't ever swim up from their debt. I was in Washington DC at that time, going to school in one of the poorest areas in the district.

The economics class we had in that school, was much more advanced than Croatia, as it had some practicalities. But it was still a joke. It was about basic savings & budgeting. It talked NOTHING about debt, loans, investments.. basically all the things you can leverage for growth.

For all my 20s, I didn't invest a single cent. I didn't understand that inflation eats my money up & that I should get a salary increase yearly. Many of my peers don't know this still. My first contact with "money literacy" came when I went to get my masters.

I learned about loans & interest then. How to properly calculate. I learned other stuff, but it wasn't applicable to me in an underfunded society to matter. Also, banks really didn't care about teaching you. The goal was to keep you in the dark.

My first touch with financial literacy came when I started working with a Swedish company, & Swedish people. They all had investments, portfolios, they negotiated their salaries, talked about options, not paying back loans in advance to keep liquidity etc... I was shocked.

I have lived my whole life thinking I was getting educated, but I was as poor as a church mouse. They showed me their tech, their banks, all these things they had access to, which also existed in Croatia, but the gap was so huge for me to bridge.

But I started.

My first investment was 6 years ago. I bought some funds. I started reading more about the matter and actually seeing it in practice. I understood you DON'T need millions to have funds. I stopped feeling guilty about asking to increase salary, I had toolkit to use - inflation.

I started having conversations about finances with men. Usually, these convos would never happen because I would always be shushed by my lack of knowledge. I started taking space, and having opinions (even when wrong). I started talking to my friends about finances.

I made it my goal to bridge the barrier of knowledge about money, to those that usually won't have access to this. I spent hours explaining concepts, so they become more clear to me as well. My husband was also a great catalyst for this journey.

Yesterday, I spoke to a Croatian bank regarding a housing loan. My first convo since 10 years ago with them. It was a day & night difference. They started off with their typical pacifying bullshit, but the moment they saw I understand the products, conversations switched.

Imagine how many people get suckered into bad financial products by not speaking the language.

As I rose up the class ladder, so does how the world treats me, what deals I get, money & respect. It shouldn't be like this. But it is. I see it every day.

I am also happy to see more and more young people are talking about this too. As we enter another economic downturn, understanding how to leverage risk/debt/opportunities can make a difference in how your future looks. I wish I had this knowledge earlier tbh.

When I entered the workforce in 2007, it would have been beneficial for me. I urge Gen Z or anyone who still hasn't learned how to manage money or invest or negotiate, start researching! Speak to banks. Read their PDF brochures. Learn what those words mean. That's the tea.

And finally - DO NOT BE ASHAMED OF BEING ANNOYING (or of your budget). Ask all the questions. Go to online chats and ask. Join forums. Start small & build up. Don't play the show-off game. That one you will always lose. Focus on building the quality of your safety net.

To finalise this thread, social mobility can happen when we:

1. improve access to knowledge
2. access to meaningful network
3. access to capital

People are locked out of (1.) which affects everything else. Let's change that for us. Let's change it.