Throughout this weekend, Bogotá will experience one of the most important events in terms of finance, savings, investments and economic growth of households, which has brought together more than 60 experts in different rooms and squares of the Universidad de los Andes, thanks to the cooperation of Mis Propias Finanzas and Páramo Labs.
This is MoneyCon, the first financial fair in Latin America, which will run until next Sunday -January 19- and has 14 spaces in which experts such as José Manuel Restrepo and Mauricio Cárdenas, former Ministers of Finance, Pablo Jacobsen, professional coach, Andrés Guerrero, Valeria Escobar and Salomón Zarruk, will share their experiences, not only in economic issues, but also in leadership and personal growth.
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Featured speakers also include Morgan Housel, author of the book ‘The Psychology of Money’; Pablo Jacobsen, mentality and high performance coach; Nicolás Abril, creator of financial content, in addition to Jorge Baxter, dean of the Faculty of Education; and Laura Wills, vice dean of Research at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Each one will contribute their knowledge and perspectives from various approaches.
MoneyCon Bogotá
Courtesy – API
A pending matter
Among the list of experts who were part of the guests at the MoneyCon talks, Portafolio spoke with Charly Correa, executive director of MejorCDT, who celebrated that this type of events are taking place in Colombia, but made it clear that it is only the first step to fill the knowledge gaps that the country has in financial education.
Charly Correa, executive director of MejorCDT,
“MoneyCon is the event for people to learn about finances in a cooler and more entertaining way. Talking about finances in homes is not necessarily the most common topic, it is not the topic that parents teach us all and it becomes a somewhat taboo topic,” he indicated.
That is why for Correa, “through these events people can come to meet expert speakers on topics such as the value of the Colombian peso, the dollar, what to do with investments, what is the importance of saving, how to optimize their credits, which are things that are fundamental for the economic development of people.”
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Taking this as a reference, this financial market expert suggested that the educational model in the country be rethought, to introduce chairs of this type, in which people are taught about topics from a very young age. such as credit analysis, savings, taking care of your pocket or responsible consumption.
“It is important for people to understand the real cost of credit. For example, how much will the total cost of a loan be over time? If I borrow $1 million today and pay it back in 12 months, how much will I have paid in total? Usually, at current interest rates, I will end up paying approximately $1,300,000. This amount reflects the cost of not having had the money available, since if I save, not only will I save $300,000 but it can generate returns on money that I do have,” he said.
MoneyCon Bogotá
Courtesy – API
Regarding what should be learned, Charlie Correa indicated that key lessons should be included such as differentiating between saving and getting into debt, since while saving generates returns, debt entails high costs that can affect long-term financial well-being.
Likewise, for beginners in finance, he recommended starting with an emergency fund that covers at least three months of basic expenses, providing stability in the event of unforeseen events, since once this is achieved, the next step is to invest in safe products such as CDTs or take controlled risks with actions.
In this way, it will be possible to reach the highest level, which is to use these investments as collateral to access cheaper credit, instead of resorting to expensive loans.is an effective strategy to optimize resources.
