“Twinkle Twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky”
This rhyme reminds me of my childhood days when I was taking my first step towards becoming one of those stars who would shine like a diamond in the sky i.e. towards becoming a successful person in life. Today when I teach the same rhyme to my young daughter , I aspire the same for her. When a child is born, our life revolves around him/her. And hence we want to make sure everything is in place and protect them from any harm.
We want our kids to have access to all that would make them a smart and responsible person whether it is good education or core values of life etc. But when it comes to finances, most us are not really comfortable to expose our young kids to money matters. But what we forget is by doing this we are not protecting our kids but are exposing them to a bigger risk of financial illiteracy.
Most of the kids today, do not understand the difference between a need and a want. Whether buying apparels or latest gadgets or mobile phones; neither the kids nor their parents want to compromise as they want their young ones to have the best of all. But is it the right way to express your love?
In this race of giving it all to kids; are we making them believe that there is nothing that he or she cannot buy? Think about it!!! As parents our role is just not confined to sending our kids to the best schools or colleges but we have a bigger role which is to render them money management lessons to make them financially smart individuals.
Talk about Money
Once I asked my 7-year old daughter that do you know where the money comes from; she immediately responded “Money comes from ATM’s”. We were shocked to hear that!!! But she said something, she has seen ever since she was born.The reality is she was raised in the plastic money era. That’s when we decided to openly talk about money matters with her. As a part of her money management lessons we chalked out various ways and means to teach the value of money and how to deal with it.
The best part is that she is learns while having fun. For instance, every month we give her an allowance of Rs.50 to spend in the school canteen. But with this we also tell her that any amount that she saves out of this Rs.50 would be added to her “I WANT TO A/c”. Once a particular amount gets accumulated in that account she can use that amount to spend on anything she wants to. With this activity every month she is motivated to use the allowance in an efficient manner and save a certain amount out of it every month which inculcates savings and budgeting habit in her.
Teaching children about money management habits is not merely telling them what you want them to do. Children learn through experience. Encourage them to be a part of the household money management, show them the family budget and explain them how money flows in the household thereby teaching them different money lessons.
So this Children’s Day, lets pledge to make our kids financially smart so as to enable them to become the shining stars of tomorrow.
