If your kids are going to read one book this summer don’t make it Harry Potter rather introduce them to your bank statement. Sit down and spend half an hour with them a couple of times a week going over credit card and bank statements. The earlier you do it the more you will save yourself and them in the long run. We kind of think it is expected that young people will be profligate with money early on but is it really necessary? Financial literacy: How early can kids learn it?
Teach Them the Different Denominations Early
I remember teaching my kids via Monopoly about the different denominations of currency. This was no old time Monopoly either it was millions and billions of dollars in a fast paced modern megapolis property market. They must have been 5 and 7 years of age I reckon, and it was challenging explaining how money was broken down into different denominations. We got there in the end, however. The fact that neither of them speak to me now has little to do with this early education I figure. Learning about money in a materialistic and money obsessed society is a must. One day they will thank me for something!
First Home Buyers Can Be Made
You could begin by instilling hope in teenagers by teaching them what a FHLDS is. Although in the current climate home ownership may become a thing of the past and only for the filthy rich in the not too distant future. Money makes the world go around, as the song lyric says. Love may be a desirable intangible, a bit like that quaint anachronism faith, but understanding finance and commerce will be a far more useful skill to possess. Children grow up into adults and they require a solid grounding in the practical realities of what life is actually about. First home buyers can be made and not just born into it via wealth.
Learn the Real Numbers in Life
Dreams are all well and good, but people only bang on about stuff like that in the movies. Don’t burden your kids with aspirations made in Hollywood because in real life large groups of people do not applaud individuals in public for any reason except sports. Financial literacy sounds slightly dirty to those of us who have an Arts degree but in reality, it is a very good thing for children to have. Learn the real numbers in life – those with a dollar sign attached.
