Money Is Learned at Home
The PISA 2022 report places Spanish 15-year-olds below the OECD average in financial literacy.
Who taught you how to spend: a teacher or the family table? In an article for El Congresista, financial adviser Nacho Rodríguez argues that money is learned at home long before it is learned in the classroom.
His argument rests on the PISA 2022 report: Spanish 15-year-old students scored 486 points in financial literacy, below the OECD average of 498.
Only five percent reached the highest levels, and 47% have a bank account, compared with 63% in the rest of the countries assessed. El Congresista adds that at home, money gets talked about less than school or sports.
«The example at home forms habits, not destiny»
What the data confirms
Rodríguez is right about the place and the method. Nobody learns to manage money by looking at a slide about interest rates; you learn it when the money is enough or isn't enough and you have to decide. I find it honest that he doesn't present school as the only solution: he mentions that Denmark and Finland integrate these ideas into daily life, without turning it into a recipe.
He is also right to point out the silence. If a household discusses every school grade and every game, but never the paycheck or the rent, the young person grows up with a clear idea: money is a topic for adults and for fights. Then he turns 18, gets a card, and discovers that nobody prepared him.
What the table can't carry alone
That's where my nuance begins. The headline's phrase is only half true: the example at home forms habits, not destiny. A dad who never learned to budget doesn't pass on a sentence; he passes on what he knows, and what he knows can be revised. Nobody is defined by what they weren't taught.
Scripture says it without drama: "Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man devours it" (Proverbs 21:20, ESV). The proverb shows two ways of handling what you have: the one that saves and the one that squanders. It doesn't announce an unavoidable inheritance; it sets both in front of you so you can choose which one you practice today, whatever the amount.
And since nobody chooses well alone, it adds: "Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed" (Proverbs 15:22, ESV). That counsel can come from your parents, from someone who handles their numbers well, from your pastor, or from a certified professional. Seeking it early saves months of trial and error.
Ten minutes that change the month
If there's one thing I'd like to leave from this discussion, it's a small task. This week, sit down for 10 minutes with your mom or dad and ask three things: how much comes into the household each month, how much goes out on fixed expenses, and what gets cut when something goes wrong.
Take it as a calm conversation, not an interrogation. You may find out that they also learned the hard way and that nobody taught them. That doesn't sink you or excuse you: it leaves you free to choose differently, with the little you have in your hand today.
What did they teach you at home about money, for better or worse? Tell me; the next column comes from those answers.
