What does “pledge” mean? “Ignore at a picnic?” “Ignore pigments?” “Pignorar is not a television network?” These are some of the funny answers that several people on the street gave to the question with which we opened this article, and that may have also raised the eyebrows of some of our readers. Although it is little known by many citizens, this banking concept actually consists of pledging one or more assets – such as vehicles or deposits – to a financial institution, in order to obtain sufficient payment guarantee.
Perhaps we may think that we will never need to know the exact meaning of a term like “pledge”, but the truth is that the strangeness it causes in many people is a clear indicator that we often lack sufficient financial culture. It is something that we personally verify when we have to face the purchase of a home, when we decide to purchase a certain financial product (such as an investment or savings fund) or even when we carry out seemingly simple procedures such as filing our income tax return.
Many of us probably think that we would like to expand our knowledge in this field, even if we don’t really know how to do it. Daily life often leaves little time for this type of training, so finding practical, fun and simple ways of learning becomes truly essential. Now, Cofidis offers us an entertaining and agile way to learn more about economics, both in terms of common words that are unknown to us and useful savings or financial management tips.
To do this, simply follow the Cofidis accounts on Instagram or TikTok (both with the username @cofidises). There it is possible to obtain information on weekly economic news in just 1 minute, thanks to the videos of its particular Top 3 Economic News, where we are offered interesting synthetic information on issues such as the evolution of large technology companies or changes in trends. global economies, to name just a couple of examples.
Among the Cofidis videos, we find useful advice for facing vacations, for choosing the best home insurance, deciding whether to file an individual or couple’s income tax return, or knowing what is the ideal amount that we should provide for coverage in the event that They invite us to a wedding.
They also teach us saving methods and daily economic planning, and provide valuable recommendations on various issues such as reducing water consumption, optimizing when making the shopping list or how to avoid so-called expenses. ghost” (those that we incur without realizing it) or “vampire” (those that, despite being fixed, are not easily detected because they are not usually included in the budget).
We all have dreams and personal projects that we would like to carry out one day, but to truly carry them out we must have a healthy financial life. As the years go by, our income and expenses change. We go through vital stages that can involve considerable changes in our economy, which we are not always able to control. To have a financial life that we can consider healthy, our first objective will be to avoid shocks as much as possible. This means being aware of our financial needs and knowing how to make the best decisions to satisfy them.
On the Cofidis blog www.vivemasvidas.com, they compile some proposals made by the Bank of Spain to avoid scares in our economy and enjoy good health in the accounts. First of all, it is essential to monitor which entities we operate with, always opting for those registered with the Bank of Spain. We must also be able to avoid possible deception (for example, online scams), and if necessary, immediately report the theft or loss of documents, also notifying the bank. It is also important to avoid leaving our cards with other people or providing secret numbers.
It is important that we properly understand any financial product before contracting it. In the event that there is any conflict with the entity, we must exercise our right to complain. Likewise, if we have problems making a payment, we should talk to our entity, as this may allow us to obtain more flexible conditions. Of course, it is always advisable to avoid account overdrafts. And, if we decide to invest, we must know how to stay away from anything that does not inspire us with sufficient confidence.
Saving is, of course, a fundamental tool to achieve our dreams and objectives. But perhaps we have ever wondered how much we should have saved at a certain age. Cofidis helps us calculate this figure, following the Greene Method formula, which you can discover on its website. Once the amount is known, the most important thing is to discover what methodology to apply to achieve it. The company proposes an interesting phased procedure, in which we set progressive objectives that increasingly encourage us to improve our savings capacity.
Although great macroeconomic analyzes may sometimes seem extremely abstruse, losing the fear of learning some simple concepts can be tremendously useful for our daily lives. Cofidis helps us in this mission, with information prepared by experts and presented in an agile and fun way, so that we can access it at any time from our mobile phone, through the social networks that we use daily such as Instagram or TikTok.