International Literacy Day 2026: Why Financial Literacy Is Part of It

For the 60th International Literacy Day on September 8: about the small difference between reading and understanding, about financial literacy as an everyday skill, and about how knowledge is actually passed on. 

It is a Tuesday in September. In the mailbox, between an advertising brochure and a postcard, there is an envelope from the pension insurance institution. You open it, you read it. Every word is clear, every number is printed correctly. And yet, after two minutes, the paper ends up on that pile which, in your mind, bears the label: “I’ll take a closer look at this later.” 

Not because you cannot read. But because, at this point, there is a small gap between reading and understanding. You know exactly what it says. You just do not know what it means for your life in fifteen or thirty years. 

If you are familiar with this moment, you are in good company. And this gives rise to a surprisingly interesting question: Is a person who can read a contract without errors but cannot assess its actual costs sufficiently literate?

From International Literacy Day to financial literacy: the four skills of everyday life

Reading and writing remain the foundation. Building on them, however, are other abilities that carry similar importance in everyday life today:

• Digital literacy. Opening an account, using an app, distinguishing a genuine message from a fake one.
• Media literacy. Recognizing who is speaking and with what intention. A well-produced video is not automatically good advice.
• Consumer literacy. Understanding how an offer is structured. What is the price, and what is the presentation of the price?
• Financial literacy. Knowing what money can and cannot do within one’s own life planning.

These four areas are interconnected. Financial literacy can help people make more informed financial decisions, feel more confident when dealing with money, and assess offers more consciously.

Financial education is a matter of opportunity

One misunderstanding around the subject of money is particularly persistent: that those who feel uncomfortable with it simply have not spent enough time dealing with it. It is rarely that simple.

We learn reading and writing systematically, over years, with a curriculum and exercise books. Most people, however, learn how to deal with money along the way: at the kitchen table, through hints, from what their parents did or did not do. Those who were fortunate sat at a table where the subject was discussed openly. Those who were less fortunate mainly learned that this is something people do not talk about.

It is less a question of personal ability than a question of whether there was someone who explained it at some point.

The survey by the Oesterreichische National bank also shows that financial knowledge is not distributed equally everywhere: Austria ranks among the leading countries internationally in terms of financial literacy, yet young women, for example, demonstrate lower levels of financial knowledge than young men. [3]

And therein lies some encouraging news: what has never been explained can be explained at any time. In most cases, this does not require a textbook. It is often enough to listen to other people think things through. How did she make her first decision? What would he do differently today?

Those who enjoy listening to conversations like these can also find them in our podcast “Truly Rich.: we talk about more than just money.”. Dr. Sarvenas Enayati speaks with her guests about money, values and decisions: without technical jargon and without a lecturing tone. These are conversations, not lectures.

Financial education is not a lesson; it is a companion through life

Perhaps the best way to describe financial literacy is not as a curriculum, but as something that grows alongside a person’s life.

In childhood, it begins with a distinction that many adults still deal with: What do I need, and what do I want? Pocket money is less about the amount itself than about having space to practice.

In adolescence, the first money of one’s own arrives. The first pay slip, the first account, the first instalment payment, the first subscription that one forgets about. During this phase, habits and patterns can develop that may accompany a person for a long time.

In adulthood, overview becomes planning. Income, expenses, reserves, perhaps the first investment. It is less often about products than about the question of what the money is actually there for.

In midlife, the focus shifts towards the future. What would I like to be able to do in twenty years? This is when that letter from the mailbox suddenly becomes interesting, because by then one has enough experience to truly read it.

In later life, financial literacy becomes connected with security and protection. Someone who develops a sense of what a reputable offer looks like may also find it easier to recognise when something appears questionable. The familiar call from an alleged grandchild, for example, deliberately relies on uncertainty and time pressure.

The message behind this is simple and encouraging: financial education is not a course that someone has missed once and for all. 

It is a skill that can continue to develop at any age. It is rarely too early and, in principle, never too late to engage more consciously with one’s own finances.

The most underestimated tool in financial education: conversation

In many families and circles of friends, money is still considered the more sensitive topic. People do not know how their friends build up their financial reserves, and sometimes even a partner does not know which contracts exist.

This silence can mean that useful knowledge is not passed on and that each generation has to rediscover many experiences for itself.

International Literacy Day is a good opportunity to challenge this a little. Not with a lecture, but with a sentence. For example:

• Tell a young person about your first financial mistake.
• Ask your parents whether their documents are kept somewhere they can be found in an emergency.
• Clarify with your partner who knows about which contracts.
• Explain compound interest to a friend in two minutes.

You do not need to learn anything new in order to do this. It is enough to pass on what you already know. And often something comes back in return, because the other person asks a question that you may never have asked yourself before.

Perhaps that is the real invitation of this September 8. Sixty years ago, International Literacy Day was established to raise awareness of the importance of basic reading and writing skills. [1] Today, this idea can be taken a step further: it is not only about being able to read information, but also about being able to understand it in the context of one’s own life and make use of it.

And the letter in the mailbox? It is still waiting. But perhaps this time you will take a calm look at it. Not because you have to. But because you can.

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Sources and References

[1] UNESCO. International Literacy Day. Accessed August 2026.

[2] UNESCO. International Literacy Day global celebration and Literacy Prizes 2026 award ceremony. Accessed August 2026.

[3] Oesterreichische Nationalbank. OeNB Report 2024/13: International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy 2023: erste Ergebnisse für Österreich – Executive Summary. Accessed August 2026.