FNF Alumni
Young Leader's Programme on Personal Finance
Our Programme
Our Young Leaders Programme took place on two consecutive weekends from August 27th to Sept 4th. Throughout Southeast and East Asia, students from South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia participated in the programme to improve their financial literacy.
The programme featured speakers from across Southeast Asia and Sweden, where financial literacy is part of school curricula. On the first weekend session, participants heard from Dr. Thi Hong Vinh Cao,lecturer at Foreign Trade University in Vietnam; Amanda Lettitia (Mandy) Mangubat learning designer and social media expert from the Philippines; Therese Wieselqvist Ekman Senior Advisor at Finansinspektionen, Sweden’s financial supervisory authority; and Steve Berggreen-Clausen, doctoral student at Lund University School of Economics and Management in Sweden. Topics which were covered in these sessions included how to clarify your own financial needs and goals, the importance of financial literacy, cash flow, and investments.
On the second weekend, participants heard from Noel B. Del Castillo; PhD candidate in economics at the University of the Philippines and Minh-Hai Ngo; Vice Rector at Gia Dinh University on how stock markets work, and how to invest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds. On the final day, participants presented how their team would invest 5,000 USD in the ASEAN market. From their participation and group work, we have chosen 8 best performing candidates to join us for a special face-to-face young leaders event in 2023.
Let's hear from some of our 8 top students
We asked some of our candidates for their opinions on why others should learn more about personal finance. Here are their answers:
“Personally, there are 3 things that I think others should also learn about personal finance. First, knowing. Know terminologies such as debt, savings, and know the different types of saving techniques--and what works for you. Second, implementation. Implement your understanding into practice. If you learn about the 50-30-20 rule, implement it. Lastly, once you have found the finance technique that suits you best, consistently implement it.”
Learning how to manage your funds is often overlooked as something to think about in the future, when in reality the best time to start is the here and now. Understanding personal finance allows you to understand the true value of your financial choices and shape a better future for yourself. Learning personal finance is "a lifetime of learning", so why not start now?
Financial well-being provides the basis for health, security and better quality of life. If you want to manage it well, the first step is to have the right mindset toward personal finance. This can shape your financial intentions in making decisions relating to money, whether it’s big (career, investment or traveling) or small (where to eat, what to buy).
The youth are our future. I hope that young leaders like us together with FNF can build further on efforts to highlight how important financial literacy is and to overcome uncertainties of this era and promote independence and well-being in the society.
