The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) has expanded its financial education portal, Wikifin.be. In addition to the existing information on products, the site now offers a range of useful financial information for important stages of life such as studying, house hunting, living together and retirement. Wikifin.be has also started an awareness-raising campaign on pensions with a pensions quiz. The campaign was launched today in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Minister of Pensions, and the Minister of Finance, Koen Geens.
The FSMA launched its financial education programme on 31 January with the launch of the Wikifin.be portal. Wikifin.be provides consumers with neutral, reliable and accessible financial information. It also features tools such as the savings account simulator. Since its launch, Wikifin.be has been visited approximately 260,000 times by more than 200,000 visitors and to date, more than 250,000 simulations have been made using the savings account simulator.
The Wikifin.be portal continues to grow. Wikifin.be already contains a wealth of information on a wide range of subjects (saving & investing, lending, insurance etc.). Today, the 'stages of life' approach has become its latest addition. This is an important area because it is at these key stages of their lives that consumers have the most questions and are more prepared to invest time in their money matters. The stages of life for 'studying', 'moving out', 'living together' and 'retirement', shall be complemented progressively in 2013 with 'being a parent', 'separation', 'end of life' and 'work'.
Wikifin.be launches its first awareness-raising campaign on the subject of pensions and invites all citizens to take the pensions quiz. This educational quiz, which has different versions for different age groups, aims to raise awareness on this subject amongst the young and the not-so-young. Citizens do not always find answers to their questions: Will I have enough money to continue to live comfortably? How much do I still need to save? At what age can I stop work: at 62 or at 65? The aim of Wikifin.be is to lead the way to obtaining clear and trustworthy answers to these questions.
The reform underway of the pensions system brings the subject of pensions to the fore. This important stage in people's financial path concerns everyone, either because they are making contributions, or because they are receiving - or are about to receive - their pension. The quiz results are set to be made public before the summer.
This initiative by Wikifin.be will be promoted through a radio campaign broadcast from 28 May to 9 June. This will be accompanied by a visual campaign and banners. A large majority of the Dutch- and French-language newspapers, as well as a wide variety of associations, support this campaign and have agreed to promote it free-of-charge.
Wikifin plans to launch a campaign on savings in autumn 2013 aimed at young people.
"The fact that pensions are the subject of the first themed campaign by Wikifin.be confirms that this subject is close to everyone's heart. The pensions quiz and the explanations provided with it deliver useful information and tips for pensions planning", said Minister De Croo.
"As Minister of Finance, I think that financial education is of great importance. Wikifin.be has demonstrated from its inception that there is huge demand for neutral, reliable and accessible financial information. This new addition will provide accurate answers to questions that many people have about their future pension", said Minister Geens.
"In its first few months, Wikifin.be has elicited considerable interest and generated a large number of visitors. Many families have used the savings account simulator to calculate the return on their savings. The new approach based on stages of life will make it easier for families to find answers to pertinent financial questions", stated the Deputy Prime Minister, Johan Vande Lanotte, Minister of Economy, Consumer Affairs and North Sea.
"The legislator has entrusted the FSMA with an explicit task to contribute to financial education. With the introduction of the new 'stages of life' approach and the first pensions quiz campaign, the FSMA has reached another milestone in the implementation of its financial education programme", declared Jean-Paul Servais, Chairman of the FSMA.
The financial education programme is not limited to the portal, but is also built around two more cornerstones: schools, and the sharing of good practices between those concerned by financial education.
Discover the new financial education portal www.wikifin.be and take part in our pensions quiz (French: www.wikifin.be/fr/quiz-pension - Dutch : www.wikifin.be/nl/pensioenquiz).
You can also follow us on Twitter @wikifin_FR and @wifikin_NL.