BBVA and EFPA collaborate to raise awareness about retirement among the Spanish population
Retirement remains an area that Spain needs to improve on. In Spain, only two out of every ten residents are saving for their retirement. In this context, it is necessary to raise awareness about planning your financial future. To this end, the BBVA Pensions Institute has carried out several initiatives in collaboration with the European Financial Planning Association (EFPA).
The BBVA Pensions Institute’s 3rd Survey on Retirement and Savings Habits (end of 2015) showed that Spanish people are mostly concerned about the future of public pensions and acknowledge the importance of retirement savings. However, only 20% of respondents (out of 46% with the actual capacity to save) were saving for their pensions. This was mentioned by Miguel Rodríguez Canfranc (a member of the BBVA Pensions Institute and EFPA) in an article on EFPA’s website about pensions in Spain: “The new pension revaluation index, the rise in retirement age and the increase in the number of years of SS contributions the pension is calculated on, they all point to a gradual decrease in the average retirement pension.”
Given these circumstances, it is necessary to provide information about pensions and help people make informed decisions about their future. For this reason, BBVA launched the website “Mi Jubilación” (My Retirement) in 2013. This is a financial education initiative for everyone. Its content is presented in several formats: video, infographics, articles, games, simulators, etc.
In keeping with this informative and educational approach, BBVA has collaborated with EFPA in several initiatives. EFPA is an independent association with 12,500 members in Spain that promotes the development of the profession of financial advisor and planner and that has its own professional certification. One of these initiatives was the “Jornada de Asesoramiento Financiero” (Finance Advice Workshop) in Madrid. In this session for the financial community, David Carrasco (Director of the BBVA Pensions Institute) discussed pensions with a panel of experts and explained the advisory philosophy of “Mi Jubilación.”
The “VIII Webinar sobre el Futuro de las pensiones en España” (8th Webinar on the Future of Pensions in Spain) had Luis Vadilla as its main speaker. This was a very successful initiative by BBVA and EFPA which was attended by more than 500 people. Held in June, this online seminar focused on topics such as the status of pensions in Spain, longevity, the challenges of pensions and financial education for retirement, among others. The success of this training session can be surmised from the overall score awarded by attendees – 4.5 out of 5; also, the level of understanding was scored at 4.8 out of 5.