Olavi Popyeinawa

Ever since the first lockdown last year, people have been complaining about how tough times have become, maybe tougher than they were before. With each passing month, everything just seems to get more difficult, especially now with a virus, devastating lives across the country. 

The youth just mostly complains about everything they do not like – even if it concerns them or not, while the older generation is more specific about what they complain about. What the youth and others is complain about money or the lack of it.

It is in times like this that financial management becomes a skill worth having and practising – a skill I believe should be taught as early as possible to a person, as it is something we end up dealing with for the rest or most of our lives.

It is important that financial skills and principles are understood by children so that they can make financial decisions independently. The sooner they learn and understand it, the better it is for them. 

The burden of teaching children about money lies mostly on parents, because they are the first teacher in a young person’s life. 

Most people start dealing with money in their early youths, but I believe parents should let children experience the difficulty of earning money.  

They could either advise their young ones to have a part-

time job in which they can be partly independent financially, or reward them by giving them money or presents after achieving a specific goal. 

This way, the child will not grow up to be spoiled and he/she will appreciate the value of money. 

They should be taught that nothing comes easy.

A good step is to start giving them monthly allowance and ask them to use their money for the month, without ending up being broke. 

This is much more difficult than it seems but it will help children notice where they spend their money and improve their money management skills. 

Something that is expected of children is to reduce personal expenses and save their pocket money to buy whatever they desire. 

For example, if a child asks for a new iPhone when her previous phone is working perfectly, he/she must be motivated to buy it with her own savings. People become aware of the difference between their needs and luxury when they have to buy something with their own – that they earned and saved, and they learn how to always keep an adequate portion of money aside in case of emergency. 

I believe, with everything going on now, financial education could not be more important now. 

The youth should, therefore, educate themselves about finance and develop their critical thinking. Parents should start teaching their children so that they do not suffer from money issues by the time they begin earning for themselves.

* Olavi Popyeinawa

* Twitter: @olavipopyeinawa

* Email: olavipopyeinawa@gmail.com