They say “finance runs the world”, yet low levels of financial literacy is a huge issue in Europe and across the globe.  It is something I have always prioritised with clients, and I have now formally launched a financial literacy program to help close the knowledge gap. It is the culmination of years of education, work experience and life experiences. 

In March 2026, it will be 21 years since I started working as a stockbroker for a small brokerage firm in the Merrill Lynch building on 701 B Street, in downtown San Diego. 

The first step was completing the Series 7 exam, known in the industry as your “broker’s license”. That is your ticket to selling stocks. 

The owner of the brokerage firm was a wannabe wolf of wall street type. He’d made it big on an over-the-counter alternative energy stock and set up his own firm. 

One of the guys in the office took 3 or 4 attempts to pass the exam. The pass rate is 70. I got a 94, or 96, I’d need to check with my friend. 

Anyways, when I broke the news to the wannabe wolf, he was impressed but was also quick to point out that ‘the guys who just scrape past 70 are the ones who make the most money’. The implication was that they don’t ask questions, they just sell. Believe and sell. 

The firm’s focus was on private placements and over-the-counter stocks. I couldn’t manufacture belief in something I didn’t really believe in.  I was looking elsewhere for my own stocks to recommend. The first stock I pitched and sold to clients that I brought into the firm was Under Armour. I bought in the day it went public. That is another story. 

I like to question stuff. So I wasn’t going to last long there.

I left to join Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor, in the same building but on the 24th floor, the top floor. They were focused on more holistic wealth management which appealed to me. Merrill Lynch in the US were years ahead of how money was managed in Ireland at the time, and I brought a lot of what I learned there back to Davy Private Clients in Ireland. Another story.

So, it will be 21 years in March. I am now in the second half of life. I have learned a lot. About finance, and people. 

When you see inside of something you figure out what you want, who you want to be. Or at least to start with, you can see what you don’t want or who you don’t want to be. You refine your values and you define what you value. 

In the financial literacy program I have developed, that is the starting point. Getting people to think about what they actually want. The financial knowledge I share is then about helping people to make it happen. 

2025 has been the year of AI, but I still believe people want to learn from someone who has lived it. It is the personal stories that brings education to life. You’ll know it is not an AI clone teaching you when you hear me say the word “interest” like I have a Dutch accent. It is authentic. 

The program is on-demand delivered over 14 weeks; a new module is released each week from the start date. Each module is a series of video lessons, on average 10-12 lessons per module. Total video time per module is around 50 minutes, on average. 

Financial inclusion is something I believe in, and I think this program can have a real-world impact. It is available now for people who want to sign up. Also, if there is someone who you think might benefit from gaining this important life skill you can purchase a gift card for them. 

I am also working with companies who are committed to making financial literacy a part of their employee wellbeing programs. So, if you want to learn more on that, do get in touch. 

Happy New Year.

Cheers,

Vincent