“We are concerned, because it is not a small phenomenon, the challenge is great,” says Kasper Peters of Deloitte when presenting the study. The consultancy performed this for four thousand Belgians, in collaboration with Ghent University and Argenta bank. At the same time, it should be noted that this is not a study on poverty. “People with an income of 3,000 euros can also be financially vulnerable,” it said, “if they feel they have no control over their financial situation.”
Deloitte thinks it is important to approach the issue of financial health “holistically”, so not only on the basis of income and expenses, but also looking at savings, debts, planning and skills. And then there is still work to be done.
Bad planners
For example, even financially resilient families (12 percent of Belgians are financially healthy and 24 percent financially sufficient) appear to be bad planners. Deloitte therefore calls, following the example of the Netherlands, where a similar study was conducted two years ago, to collaborate in a broad ecosystem of banks, employers, education, non-profit and government, among others, to improve the financial resilience of Belgians. to improve.
In concrete terms, for example, regulatory interventions can be made, such as the possibility of a reverse home loan to offer homeowners more peace of mind if they have to pay the invoice of the residential care center later. Another example: investing change in the bank account from the age of 18 automatically yields a piggy bank of 150,000 to 200,000 euros.
