Continuing Education
Interview with Albert Gallegos: "Understanding finance", a compass for better decision-making
May 5, 2025
Albert Gallegos, Program Director of the "Understanding Finance" training program, presents a program designed to demystify financial issues. With a clear and accessible approach, he enables participants to regain control of their financial decisions, by integrating sustainable principles adapted to their values.
Albert Gallegos, you are the Program Director for the "Understanding Finance" short course. Could you tell us about this program and who it is aimed at?
Understanding finance is a bit like learning a universal language that you speak but don't always understand. This program has been designed as a manual for navigating a world where money influences every decision, every project, every dream.
It is aimed at all those who want to regain control of their financial decisions - and in particular at young people, often left to their own devices in the face of an avalanche of online content. This content, sometimes seductive but rarely transparent, sells more promise than understanding. With our training, we get back to basics: explaining without selling, educating without guiding, transmitting without complicating.
In your opinion, what makes this program so rich and high quality?
What makes our program so interesting is that it doesn't seek to turn participants into financiers, but rather to give them the right glasses to look at the economic world with a clear head.
We have assembled a team of committed professionals capable of transforming technical concepts into lively narratives. Finance then becomes a mirror of our society, a revelation of choices, a terrain of freedom. And thanks to concrete examples, everyone can make the connection with their own reality. It's a bit like learning to read a map: once you understand the symbols, you're no longer dependent on GPS.
What do you see as the main challenges in this area, and how does this program provide concrete solutions?
Our program offers concrete reference points: understanding your pension provision, building a budget, identifying suitable financial products, making choices in line with your values. We want everyone to be able to make informed choices, not in fear or haste, but with a clear conscience.
The Swiss pension system is sometimes perceived as complex: what approach do you use to make it understandable? Which investment tools arouse the most interest or questions from participants?
Swiss pension provision is a bit like a clock with three cogs: each has its role, its logic, but if you don't understand how they interact, you can find yourself out of sync. Our educational approach is therefore simple: to tell the story of pension provision as a life story.
We explain each pillar through real-life situations: a first job, a change of job, parental leave, real estate investment, retirement - even a distant one. And we translate technical terms into plain language. This enables participants to see pension provision not as a constraint, but as long-term insurance, a way of honouring their future.
As for investment tools, it's often crypto-currencies, sustainable funds, ETFs and products linked to the 3rd pillar that raise the most questions. Participants want to understand what's "behind the product": what's the use, what's the risk, what's the impact? And this is precisely where training comes into its own: distinguishing the noise from the essentials, and making every decision consistent with one's objectives and values.
