11 hours ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Make financial literacy accessible to all, says WEF
Haleh Nazeri speaking at the EPF's International Social Well-being Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
KUALA LUMPUR : Financial education must be made more accessible and creative, with concepts like 'longevity literacy' key in helping people grasp long-term financial planning, said a World Economic Forum (WEF) official today.
WEF longevity economy lead Haleh Nazeri said service companies, the government and civil society could simplify the process, proposing that financial education be 'gamified'.
'I think it's really difficult when talking about financial education, just the whole onus on the individual, to have them understand, learn, and access everything that people are talking about,' she said during a panel session at EPF's International Social Well-being Conference (ISWC 2025) here.
Another panellist, Basic Income Earth Network honorary co-president Guy Standing, called for a rethink of how governments funded social safety nets.
He suggested taxing 'economic rents' – the 'unearned profits' derived from land ownership, natural resource exploitation or monopolistic corporate practices – rather than income or consumption.
Standing pointed to Alaska's Permanent Fund, which pays residents an annual dividend from oil revenue, as an example.
He criticised current welfare systems for creating 'poverty traps', where high marginal tax rates penalised those who took on temporary work.
'People are inherently incentivised to improve their lives and should be trusted more with policy decisions,' he said.
