Financial Literacy For Children And Teenagers.
I was 15 years old the first time I got scammed by an online platform. I believed the platform would truly save millions from poverty and was our only hope of financial freedom/ breakthrough. I got scammed a couple more times afterwards by platforms that appeared to be real this time with some even giving out memorandum of understanding and agreements. And I fell for them because mostly because I really didn't have a solid understanding of the right investment and I was also a financial illiterate.
As a kid, I remember the only topics I was exposed on financial matters (both at home and school) were buying, knowing how much I was spending and how much change I was to receive. This was all I, millions of other kids and adults were exposed to as we grew up. "To Be Consumers". No one really sat me down to talk about some real life financial situations like investments, how to sell/ be a good salesman, how to identify scams, loans and debts, buying assets, building wealth, how to spend wisely etc. Of course we were introduced to a couple of financial topics that aren't really required in the real world and all that ended in school when I was about 11 years old.
The world as we know it is constantly involved with financial matters and the average human thinks about their finance at least a 100 times a day. This implies that to attain a certain level of success in our financial lives, financial literacy and education should be an important part of our lives from childhood till adulthood.
Loans and debts are more common this day than any other time in history and its surprising how many people jump into these financial situations with no good reason, no strategies and without a second thought. I've seen young men take loans not to start a business but for cars they don't need, weddings, and to keep up with a lifestyle no one truly cares about. Most times, I blame these actions on the individuals poor judgement and understanding of money and finance which could have been better if only they were well informed about these things while growing up.
These days, I talk to my colleagues about how I'd involve my children and every other child I'm in close relation with on real life financial situations. Sharing my experiences on scam projects, loans, debts, investment opportunities, cryptocurrencies, stock market, assets, money, marketing etc. I believe these information would go a long way into shaping the lives of these youngsters and giving them a chance to make the right decision when faced with some of these financial situations in the future and not making the mistakes their parents and other adults made. I also think this could also help the children understand that they are free to approach me and any other adult with experiences in any financial situations they find themselves later in the future.
Children are fast learners and they really don't forget lessons and experiences shared. Financial literacy for children should be a core part of their development and I believe it would be helpful in shaping them into better individuals than we were.
Thank you for reading, I hope you found this post informative and useful.