Invest in enriching tools for children to manage money

Simplifying money matters can be daunting, but there are workshops and books to help kids save for a rainy day

- Avantika Bhuyan

It is that time of the year when you start budgeting and declare investments for official purposes. This task becomes more harrowing when you are really bad at maintaining paperwork.

After watching me stumble and fumble through such tasks during the pandemic lockdowns, my daughter started helping me get more organised. These days, as she puts papers in order digitally, she also bombards me with questions about equity, risks and more. These don't just leave me stumped but also bring back that panic-stricken feeling of being in math class when a teacher asked me to solve a differential equation.

As these queries have started increasing in scope and number, I keep looking for resources that could ease these conversations. When I started this search, I was expecting convoluted explainers but to my surprise, I found engaging books and workshops that helped introduce financial literacy to children as young as seven and eight.

Gone are the days when education on money matters ended with pocket money, piggy banks or games like Monopoly. Gen Alpha kids have gone way beyond such simplistic methods.

Being the biggest influence on family spending, they are adept at online shopping and are well aware of new developments in blockchain and cryptocurrency. The fact that they have access to the digital world also means that they could be more susceptible to financial fraud and misleading information. It is for this reason that financial literacy needs to start early.

MAKE A JUMP START

In an August 2024 article in Forbes, Mark Travers writes that children have the ability to learn that their patience will be rewarded by gradually achieving financial goals rather than by impulse buying.