The health crisis that we are overcoming with such effort will also have consequences for the savings and investment culture of families. In addition to having forced us to save when it was not possible to travel and consume, it is also likely to cause changes in our savings management, either because we are not sure when this difficult period will end or because the experience has been so hard that we want to redouble our efforts to feel better protected in the future.
The crisis has accentuated the inclination of families toward purchasing a home, which is the primary wealth decision for households and reflects the proper functioning of the mortgage market. But beyond real estate assets, the net financial wealth of households increased by almost 9% in the last year, reaching 1.5 times the GDP.
Specifically, the financial assets of families grew by 5.3% during the year, exceeding 120 billion euros. It is no surprise that the majority of the increase materialized in cash and deposits, accounting for 42% of the total. However, it is noteworthy that the investment fund shares component was the one that increased its weight the most within the overall financial assets.
The financial repression resulting from negative official interest rates and the increased vulnerability of financial markets, as a consequence of extreme monetary policy measures, represent a handicap when it comes to making a financial cushion profitable for future support. In this highly complex context, financial education, which has always been important, now becomes essential to obtain the maximum return from our economic resources.
José Luis Martínez, Spokesperson for the Spanish Banking Association
