When it comes to earning and saving money, adults would only need to work hard on their jobs and ensure that they contribute regularly to their retirement fund and savings on top of the bills they have so they have no worries in the future. In some countries, retired adults can avail of free government services so they don’t have to use their hard-earned savings that much.
In Singapore, the situation is a bit different.
Every Singaporean or permanent resident is expected to take an active step in ensuring that their finances are stable and enough to meet all your needs once retirement comes along. If this is not done, they will need to continue working until they have enough to retire peacefully.
Because of this fact, many Singaporean schools are now changing their lesson plans to include basic finance lessons to help kids understand how they can manage their money. A study even showed that pre-schools are now adding basic business and finance classes for kids in their curriculum for kids.
While the concept is a bit avant-garde since preschoolers are still learning how to count money and understand the complex world of maths, the idea presents a lot of merits.
As a parent, here are some of the things you can do to help your kids accumulate more money aside from teaching them to save their pocket money:
Enable kids to exercise their business skills in fairs
A majority of schools today ensure that kids are prepared to face the world by organizing events where the kids can take an active part. It could be funfairs, school concerts, field trips and others. Some kids, especially young kids, would definitely stay in the school late to ensure the event is successful.
If your child’s school is having a funfair, why not let them try selling during the fair? You can help them prepare goodies to sell – like baked goodies, stationery, and other cute items – and help them decorate their stalls.
Before the fair begins, challenge your child to try selling their products and even tell them they can keep a part of the earnings when the fair is over. You should also teach them to make a record of their sales from the moment the fair begins until the end to see if they reach their targets. The records can help them hone their maths skills properly since they will need to add their earnings and subtract from their available stock.
To make things interesting, you raise the idea of a sell-off between the students to the teachers and see which one could sell the most amount of goods at the end of the fair.
Check the school if they offer part-time job opportunities
If your kids are now on their secondary school level, you may check if their schools offer advice on how kids can learn how to earn for themselves and become self-reliant. It may be through workshops where they are taught how to handle their money better or through summer jobs.
For some secondary schools, they offer summer jobs for students to try out to try earning money. The jobs can be from simple secretary work to tutoring other students, things that children can do based on their skills and capabilities. In some instances, schools include the student’s participation in holiday jobs in their transcripts as extra credit.
If the student wishes to try out other jobs, the school can recommend a list of registered partners offering holiday jobs for secondary school students based on their skillset. The salary and the duration of these summer jobs vary, but it is a good start if you want your child to start their savings early and learn how to be responsible.
Allow kids to go on excursions to places of commercial interest
School field trips are common for Singapore schools today to ensure students can be exposed to various environments outside their classroom. It could be in zoos, popular attractions or educational areas. However, these students do not get the chance to go to places which would introduce them the basics for activities like going to the supermarket or knowing where to go for bargain prices.
Ask your child’s school if they can organize school field trips in places where children can learn how to spend their money wisely. It could be going to the local grocery shop where they can see the different products used for their meals and help them how to check prices and pick the ones that would be better valued.
To make the excursion more interesting, after purchasing items at the local grocery, the school can organize a picnic using the food they purchased during the trip.
If your child’s school cannot schedule this type of activity, do not worry. You can bring them along when you do your grocery shopping or when you shop for their school supplies. You can ask them to do basic maths like add the number of apples you purchased or check if your funds are enough for the entire purchase.
Conduct lessons on saving, investing and retirement
Finally, it is ideal to get your kids enrolled in lessons which would help them understand the power of their money and how to prepare for their future. Nowadays, it is very common for young adults not to have a clear plan for their future because they are not trained to manage their finances properly.
In order to prevent this from happening to your child, enrolling them in financial or business workshops that are suited for their age is a good start. Through these workshops, they will be able to understand why they need to manage their money wisely and understand why preparing early for their financial future is important. These workshops would also introduce them ways on how they can grow their savings without risks. If the workshops are a bit too expensive for you, you can check out online videos that teach the basics in investing, saving and retirement and let your kids watch it.
If you want to tackle the issue at home, you can do mini-lectures during your meals or leisure time about it with your kids. You can use fun examples during your discussions, like the toy or console your child has been asking you to purchase from them. You can even engage a maths tuition teacher for them.
Conclusion
Money makes the world go around and without it, you could not do a lot of things that would make life easier to handle, especially as you grow older.
When it comes to teaching a child important lessons like handling money, it is best to start them early because it will be easier for them to develop a healthy habit while they are young. As they grow, they will be able to adapt techniques that would help them manage their money better based on their situation and slowly build the foundations of their future finances. Starting this lesson late may only cause setbacks for your child as they get older and disable them from enjoying life as they reach their retirement years.
As parents, it is our responsibility to ensure that our children are prepared to face the future and learn these important life lessons. So, don’t be afraid to expose them to opportunities that will teach them how to handle money even if these opportunities will introduce them to the world early.
Your children will definitely thank you for it as they grow older because they won’t have any problems managing their finances, especially when they start earning on their own.
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