How money works for children

When it comes to personal finance, one of the best books that our children ought to read is a book entitled “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” written by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. This book supports the importance of financial literacy, financial independence and building wealth through investing in assets, real estate investing, starting and owning businesses, as well as increasing one‘s financial intelligence.

DepEd Philippines most recently announced for its economic and financial literacy awareness week, the need to teach our learners the concept of money and budgeting at a very young age, in a “kiddie-friendly” manner, in order for them to embrace money matters as part of their daily lives without fear or, at most, left feeling overwhelmed. The Department of Education also enjoins parents to motivate their children to become money savvy learners with the purpose of understanding how this should work for them.

Even at an early age, it is important for learners to appreciate the value of money as decisions in saving, investing, as well as proper spending, impacts their every day lives. Educating the youth in financial literacy is proving to be more and more important for learners as the building blocks of economics help them set the stage for their financial future.

In order to achieve financial stability in life, being penny wise and making sound financial decisions help one achieve financial stability in the future. This is a good lesson we can all learn from the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” as money management skills need to be developed by children before they reach adulthood.

Being good at numbers does not necessarily equate to good financial management, as this in itself has many more concepts that include skills and knowledge in order to make informed decisions about all of their financial resources.

As parents, we want our children to grow into self-sufficient individuals who can achieve financial stability and contribute to the financial growth of society. While the internet can provide our children with multiple information on financial literacy, it is crucial for them to obtain guidance on the value for money and how to use it effectively. The earlier a child is taught financial literacy and learns about money, savings and investments, the better money managers they will grow to be in the future.

Primary and secondary schools should certainly continue making strides in teaching learners financial literacy as the burden often falls on parents, where some fail to live up to their goals for lack of financial education. As parents, we often want to give the best to our children; however, by allowing our children to earn their keep, we are actually equipping them for the future. Good financial know-how helps our learners handle money whereas the world today is clearly teaching our youth that financial literacy has become an essential aspect of life. The more knowledgeable our learners become, the better equipped they will be for their future.

Our children are growing up in a more complex world and financial literacy is a core skill that, when learned, gives one the power to negotiate the goals one sets with regards to their money, for when you understand your finances, you stress less and achieve more. As Robert T. Kiyosaki said in his book, “Skills make you rich, not theories.” That’s the whole point of financial literacy. Let’s start our children early.