Of course, financial education is important. But not everyone who took a risk with financing was naïve.
Innsbruck (OTS) – As important as training may be, personal responsibility cannot be ignored.
Education is important. And the parents’ saying that you don’t learn for school, but for life, is often understood too late. So it’s no wonder that the interest calculation is often a long time ago and not quite as accurate in the head. With years of low interest rates for the home loan or the leasing rate, this was usually not so tragic. After the rally that key interest rates have staged within 14 months, this is now having a massive impact – also due to general inflation. It is more than questionable whether the calls for more financial education alone will suffice.
National Bank Governor Robert Holzmann, who incidentally expects further interest rate hikes, would be in favor of mandatory training before you can get money from the bank. Not a bad approach. Because of course, in the past not everyone was aware of what it actually means when a six-digit loan amount and a variable interest rate climb up. And of course one or the other bank advisor will have wrongly reassured that this will not happen anytime soon. But: There is also personal responsibility and that cannot be ignored.
But what is neglected in the discussion: There are also people who were fully aware of the risk and who knew what it means when the credit increases. But had little alternative. People who had to go into debt due to financial difficulties. People who wanted to finance their own home despite the horrendous land and apartment prices. For many Tyroleans, the variable credit was a game of poker with no great alternative. In the future, these often hard-working people will probably need help and not pay any reminder fees for more than a year.
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