Educating your children about money

As a parent, there is need for you to educate your children on how to spend their money judiciously.

Understanding the basics will help them to become financially self-sufficient and have the knowledge to take advantage of financial opportunities.

Educating your kids to develop a healthy relationship with money can have a positive, life-long impact and improve your own financial knowledge, skills, and attitudes along the way.

Most kids are interested in money and recognise money management as an important step toward maturity and independence.

Talking with them about their money will show that you recognise they’re on the road to becoming responsible young adults. By gradually transferring more financial responsibility to them, they’ll gain experience in planning, making choices, and learning to live independently.

Experts say you should carry your kids along about money and share your thoughts with them about how you make your daily spending and saving decisions. They’ll also benefit from hearing about your past money

mistakes and what you learned from them. Let your kids know they can always turn to you for financial information and advice.

As soon as your children can count, you should try as much as possible to introduce to them your country currency “naira and kobo” as the case maybe. When they’re old enough to shop with you, you can introduce them the ideas of spending, saving, and how money is used to store, measure, and exchange value.

Once your kids understand the idea of money, introduce them to basic concepts about how to use money wisely and also encourage them to know the difference between needs vs. wants. And need to understand that people can’t have everything they want. They need to identify their priorities and make trade-offs.

You also need to set goals and save for them and teach them the habit of saving regularly to reach their goals. As an added incentive, consider offering to match what they save on their own. Also explain the concept of earning interest and the power of compound interest to use money to make money. And teach them to always keep receipts. This will allow them to keep track of what they buy and how much they spend, and to return purchases if necessary.

Experts advise you introduce your child to your financial institution and the services they provide to you. At the appropriate ages, help them to open savings and checking accounts of their own and guide them on using the accounts responsibly.

Some experts advise that having a part-time job can be a good way for young people to learn more about earning money and how to manage it.

However, be sure that school remains their top priority. Young adults need to take advantage of the opportunity to focus on school.

In addition, the quality and level of education they receive will have a major impact on their future earning power. Always monitor whether their working life is really affecting the schoolwork or not.