Financial Education as a Pillar of Social Inclusion: CNseg’s Strategy to Transform Brazil
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Financial Education as the Most Powerful Income Distribution Program
It was during the opening of the seminar “Insurance for All: Financial Education, Socioeconomic Vulnerability, and Inclusive Insurance,” held on May 12 in the auditorium of Brazil’s Ministry of Education in Brasília, that Dyogo Oliveira, president of the National Confederation of Insurance Companies (CNseg), highlighted the importance of financial education for Brazil’s future.
The event was part of the program for Brazil’s 12th National Financial Education Week (Semana ENEF).
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The seminar brought together insurance industry leaders, government representatives, and experts to discuss how access to insurance, retirement plans, and savings bonds can drive social development, reinforcing education as one of the main tools in that process.
The Impact of Financial Costs and the Urgent Need for Education
During his remarks, Dyogo Oliveira painted a clear picture of the structural inequalities that persist in Brazil and argued for the insurance industry’s role in mitigating these weaknesses.
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As presented, in 2024 alone, the Brazilian insurance industry paid out roughly $100 billion in claims, benefits, drawings, and prizes.
That amount represents about 5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), exceeding the budgets of almost every federal ministry.
The recent floods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul were cited to illustrate the scale of the losses and the importance of insurance.
The insurance industry paid approximately $1.2 billion in claims related to those disasters.
A Financialized Brazil and Exclusion Through Lack of Knowledge
Oliveira also said we live in a deeply financialized society, where understanding how money works is a fundamental requirement for full citizenship.
Dyogo pointed out that Brazil’s tax system is extremely regressive and unfair, hitting lower-income people the hardest.
The poorest families end up bearing the highest financial costs, while also being the most harmed by the lack of protection tools such as insurance.
The low returns on popular savings vehicles in Brazil, such as the FGTS severance fund and traditional savings accounts, make this vulnerability even worse.
The Susep–MEC Partnership: Insurance Education for 40 Million Students
The commitment to expanding financial education was also reaffirmed by Airton Filho, director of Prudential Regulation and Economic Studies at Brazil’s Superintendence of Private Insurance (Susep).
He highlighted the agency’s role in incorporating insurance, retirement, and tax topics into financial education, broadening the traditional understanding of the field.
To that end, an agreement was signed with Brazil’s Ministry of Education (MEC) to make the “Todos pela Educação” (Everyone for Education) program possible.
Through this initiative, content on financial education, insurance, and retirement planning will reach more than 40 million K-12 students across the country.
This initiative represents a significant step toward bringing financial protection into everyday school life, making it a pillar of civic education.
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| 🛡️ The Role of Insurance | A strategic instrument of protection and opportunity, not just a cost. |
| 👨👩👧👦 Relevance for New Generations | Understanding insurance as a fundamental piece in sustaining personal, family, and business activities. |
| 📈 Strategic Vision | Contributes to financial security and fuels the growth of individuals and businesses. |
Savings Bonds: Encouraging Financial Discipline with Purpose
Another topic discussed at the seminar was the role of capitalization (prize-linked savings) bonds in promoting financial discipline. The topic was presented by Douglas Duran Bejo, vice president of Brazil’s National Capitalization Federation (FenaCap).
He shared his personal experience, revealing that as a young man he was deeply influenced by the classic book “The Richest Man in Babylon,” which motivated him to set aside 10% of his salary in capitalization bonds.
Bejo stressed that these bonds should not be confused with a traditional investment, since they are not tied to an index.
Instead, they are a strategy to encourage the habit of saving money, while also offering the chance to win prizes that can multiply the amount saved.
In this way, capitalization bonds serve as an alternative for building financial reserves with a fun, motivating component.
Retirement Plans: Promoting Long-Term Savings and Intergenerational Protection
The social and economic role of private retirement plans was also widely discussed at the seminar, as the focus of a talk by Bernardo Ferreira Castello, first vice president of Brazil’s National Federation of Private Pensions and Life Insurance (FenaPrevi).
Castello emphasized that you can’t talk about life insurance and supplementary retirement plans without first addressing the need for financial education.
He noted that the recent Covid-19 pandemic highlighted this social role, citing that the industry paid more than $200 million in claims, even in the face of clauses that, in theory, could have excluded pandemic coverage.
That’s why FenaPrevi keeps financial education as one of the core themes of its work, present in all of the discussions and initiatives the organization promotes.
Financial Education: Transforming the Country’s Future
At the end of the panel, all participants agreed on one central idea: financial, retirement, insurance, and tax education is a transformative tool capable of shaping Brazil’s future.
This vision is aligned with the theme of the 12th National Financial Education Week (Semana ENEF):
“Financial Education for Children and Young People: Preparing Society for Conscious Choices.”
Organized by the Brazilian Financial Education Forum (FBEF), Semana ENEF runs through May 18 and brings together public and private institutions as well as members of the school community.
The goal is to share knowledge, encourage positive attitudes, and build, from an early age, a solid foundation for conscious financial decision-making among all Brazilians.
In addition, the initiative seeks to promote a significant cultural shift, encouraging financial responsibility and independence from childhood.
Through talks, workshops, teaching materials, and interactive activities, the goal is to democratize access to information and reinforce the importance of healthy financial habits in families’ daily lives.
This national effort aims to break historical cycles of poverty, expand social protection, and foster the country’s sustainable growth, showing that financial education is not just a public policy but a national project aimed at ensuring a fairer, more prosperous future for everyone.
