Intervening on the elderly is an complicated task: it is often required to challenge deep-rooted prejudices, the conviction of already knowing enough due to learners’ lived experienced, and so on. Of course, also the lack of time, the decreasing interest in education and training especially in “hard” fields,  and the often the absence of a proper setting, such as the school for Youth, have a significant influence.

On the other hand, financial skills for everyone have long been at the center of numerous national and European strategies, because these skills (together with insurance and social security skills) are essential for making safe and consistent choices, in line with one's own conditions, above all if the financial activities are carried out online or through digital tools, in relation to which the elderly (60 or 65+) are overall much less competent than other generational clusters.

What is financial literacy? And how can it be configured, if it has the aim of addressing a possibly elderly target?
According to the definition provided by the Committee for the planning and coordination of financial education activities of the Italian Government, it is "the knowledge and understanding of the concepts" and above all "of financial risks".

And again, it is what provides "confidence to apply knowledge in a useful way, so as to make effective decisions in all possible financial and everyday contexts, fully participating in contemporary economic life".

It must be kept in mind that economic activities are also often conditioned by emotions, by need, by behaviors that are not always rational, especially in the case of the most fragile and, in this case, less literate population.

Financial education for the elderly must also combine theory, which is certainly important, with practice, even the simplest and most daily. An example?

The importance of drawing up a monthly budget, useful for keeping track of one's income and expenses, but also how a budget is drawn up, for example through accessible and easy-to-use software, provided that they are well illustrated by the educator (e.g. OpenOffice package), or still through the guided exploration of the Internet Banking Apps and their functions, now considered to be fully mandatory for all current account holders.

Financial skills, even basic ones, are therefore understood as fundamental for orienting oneself and knowing how to make informed decisions during the so-called "moments that matter", as defined by the aforementioned Italian Committee for the planning and coordination of financial education i.e., for example, management of first earnings and their possible increase also through micro-investments, or buying real estate through a bank loan, or managing finances when starting a family, especially if children are expected.
But still…need to take care of an elderly relative financially, or prepare for retirement. In fact, for the elderly population, the "moments that matter" can be of various types and it is a negative prejudice to think that the over 65+ have fewer responsibilities than the non-retired and working adult group.
The elderly, in countries such as Italy or elsewhere, often represent the first and fundamental "social shock absorber": they may find themselves in the position of having to take care financially of unemployed or even temporarily unemployed children or grandchildren. Or again, they can pledge their assets to guarantee financial transactions for the benefit of the new generations, just think of the use of real estate assets. Or more simply, as the financial conditions change with retirement, they have to plan for any unexpected events (such as possible illnesses), plan sustainable debt in a different and careful way, monitor and manage their budget.

The skills that this curriculum will convey will therefore be:

How to manage liquidity and payment instruments

• Money and the value of goods
• Inflation, what is it?
• Various payment instruments and channels, including Online Methods

Family Budget and Family Planning

• Tracking all sources of income
• The management of the family budget
• Financial planning and family savings

Investments

• What is an investment?
• Various, safe and small investment instruments

Loans and Mortgages

• What is a mortgage? How to apply?
• What is a loan? How to apply?

Retirement and social security tools

• Pills on social security in different EU contexts
• Planning your pension and forms of complementarity

Insurances and other safety tools

• Identification of possible daily risks
• Insurances and insurance contracts

Be informed

• Identify reliable sources of information
• Where to find experts and proper consultants 

Digital Tools

• Digital banking and financial instruments
• Cyber risk and cyber financial violence, cyber frauds

The guidelines for an effective financial literacy curriculum should also be:

• Build personalized paths, the contents of which are capable of enhancing and above all recognizing the person's skills

• Build usable paths through interactive channels suitable for users, proposing participatory teaching models

• If, as in the objective of BUCOLICO, the users tend to have low or scarce initial skills, know how to involve even before the actual provision of the educational offer (reactivate interest in target groups such as NEETs, or elderly people, united usually from a lack of interest in training or strengthening activities)

• Knowing how to evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative, knowing how to recognize any difficulties. In this regard, the BUCOLICO model proposes the models deemed most direct and effective: ex post monitoring through non-formal methodology and, above all in the case of this PACKAGE, self-assessment quiz to complete the course units

• Knowing how to evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative also, for example, by comparing the skills acquired by the group involved with those possessed by a similar group (in terms of age and socio-cultural starting conditions) that has never participated in financial training initiatives , even by extracting data from other sources, provided they are reliable

Pills of general financial competence:

• Pay attention to your money, dedicate ten minutes every fortnight to check your finances, especially your income and expenses, even simply through the functions of the Banking App in your possession

• Force yourself, if possible, to save a fixed percentage of your ordinary income each month, compatibly with your availability. It can also be 5% or 10%, not necessarily high percentages. This will greatly help, over the months, to increase your sense of security in the face of possible unexpected events, or even your sense of confidence regarding the management of your daily finances.

• Understand, study or ask for help if you want to take financial action: from consumption to savings (how much to consume, how much to save?), considering all possible variables. Be it consultancy at your bank, or in the Italian case at the postal institution, or again at accredited profit and non-profit centers with clear experience in the field.

• Before buying something significant, take your time. Evaluate the whole range of products, learn about the features, compare. Don't be afraid to ask questions, even at a store.

• In the case of investments, even minimal ones, you tend not to concentrate all your resources in one thing. This is because, should something go wrong, you would lose everything. Concentrating investments on a single instrument exposes you to the risk of losses, even high ones.

• If you tend to save money, always keep something aside, get informed and thoroughly documented on inflation and interest rates. In fact, if prices increase, your spending power will obviously decrease. The investment, especially if accompanied and guided by an expert, helps to diversify and hopefully increase your liquidity and, therefore, your spending capacity.

• Don't give consent, don't sign anything if you don't fully understand. Never give your consent, or your personal data online (not only for financial activities..), without fully understanding what you are doing. Also informally contact your friends and family and, from there, if necessary, to professionals who belong to financial or social security institutions of clear, irrefutable professionalism (a banking institution, a consulting firm with many years of experience, etc.).

• Do you buy something, for example online? Don't be afraid to use your debit or credit cards. The main internet payment circuits, used by the best-known sales and shipping companies, are very safe. As well as, for example, Paypal. On the other hand, always inform yourself about any taxes, ancillary costs (trivially, shipping). Make sure that the total cost you have viewed includes all possible expense items.

• Consider taking out an insurance policy. Delegate the risks that may arise to an insurance company. By paying a sum, you will be more relaxed should something happen.