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Journalism of Courage
Today’s kids are intelligent, quick learners, tech-savvy, and perceptive. They become habituated even more quickly than we think. At a young age, they begin to identify their needs, wants, and way of life. However, they may overlook the fact that investing and conserving money are essential for a stable and contented future. With the rise in digital currency, it becomes tough even for adults to keep track of their finances, hence it is significant to educate your teen from a young age about financial literacy.
Here’s what you can do:
First and foremost, talk to your kids about needs vs. wants. Inform them that purchasing that pricey toy will require savings. Discuss how we save money now so that we can later obtain the items we want. Encourage your children to prioritise saving by setting aside their wants. Request the amount they have chosen to save and assure them that you will securely store it on their behalf.
It is very important that your teen learns how to manage and document their finances. Since digital payments create an illusion of spending less, writing down their daily or weekly finances will help your child overcome this illusion. Providing them with a finance diary where they can record their expenses and savings will help them keep track.
Unfortunately, our schools don’t teach the basics of how to file a complaint in a bank, how to open a fixed deposit, or how to get access to a passbook, etc. Hence, as parents, it’s essential that you take your teen to a bank every quarter so that they understand the practicalities of opening a bank account and what is required.
Your child might initially show either no interest or be extremely excited. In both cases, be patient with them. Answer their queries with a general sense of calmness and confidence. They might require you to explain something more than once. Instead of showing annoyance, try using simpler analogies so that your teen can relate.
Make learning enjoyable as much as possible. Introduce ideas and lessons from life, such as the importance of financial literacy, using board games. A range of lessons on money management, financial planning, negotiating, and career planning can be learned from board games such as Monopoly, Game of Life, and the Stock Exchange. These games can be a useful tool for teaching lessons about prudent money management, saving, and investing in banks, stocks, and real estate, and using money for emergencies rather than hoarding.
Nishtha Grover is a child and adolescent psychologist, and a doctoral research scholar based in New Delhi
