Raise money-smart kids

Maiki Oreta on turning gift money into lifelong lessons

- JANE KINGSU-CHENG

START 'EM YOUNG Kiddo-preneur is a youth entrepreneurship program in the Philippines that teaches children (usually ages five to 17) how to start and run their own mini businesses.

Money conversations at home are not a single sit-down talk. They evolve as children grow up.

For Maiki Oreta, business broadcast journalist at Bilyonaryo News Channel and founder of Kiddo-preneur, financial literacy—and even entrepreneurship—is not reserved for adulthood. This begins in childhood, in everyday moments that most families tend to overlook.

"They're growing up fast, and our money conversations are different at every age," the mother-of-four tells Manila Bulletin Lifestyle. "Teaching value, discipline, responsibility, and consistency isn't a onetime thing. It is an ongoing dynamic family conversation."

In many Filipino homes, children receive generous cash gifts during birthdays, Christmas, and the Lunar New Year. Because it's not earned,

MAIKI ORETA

'Lesson number one is good stewardship, or learning how to handle money with intention and care.'