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three-month period would cost an extra R110 at the more opportunities to invest are
current price. Comparative shopping is also an excellent opened up. This section is designed
technique to get kids to practise their mental arithmetic. to teach the kids the value of long-
term investing and it also makes them
Examining the family’s monthly consumption of aware of what the risks might be.
electricity, gas and water, and discussing how the
family can save on these utilities, is another useful OTHER ONLINE OPTIONS
exercise. Looking into whether it would be better to If you’re not sure about committing
buy a vehicle on credit vs buying it outright, debating to an entire series of the MoneyTime
whether vehicle hire would be an option or merely using SA modules, here are some YouTube
Uber for the odd occasion – these are all useful ways video channels you can try:
to get kids more in touch with the realities of life. • Learning Mole
• Easy Peasy Finance
BOOKS AND ONLINE COURSES • Smart Kidz Learning
There are various books on the market that could give you • The Rich Dad Channel
some guidance as a parent, such as Finance 101 for Kids, • TEDx Talks
Teaching Kids about Money, Money Smart Children and Make
Your Kid a Money Genius (all available from Takealot.com), CHANGES IN ASPIRATIONS
but sharing that information with kids may be a challenge. Although we can all accept that what one
generation prioritises is not necessarily
The other option is to have them go online. something that will even be relevant
MoneyTime SA (www.moneytimekids.co.za) offers a financial for future generations, if the crisis of the
literacy programme for tweens and teens aged 10 – 14 years. It’s pandemic has taught us nothing else,
an online course that does the teaching for you – which is great we can appreciate that financial stability
for this generation because they hate being told what to do. is imperative if we want to live healthy,
happy and relatively stress-free lives.
This course allows kids to work through the programme
independently and there are quizzes and tests that earn Many school leavers, however, are
them virtual money once they have completed the modules questioning the aspirations of owning a
and answered the questions – so much better than being property, driving a fancy car, embarking
paid for doing chores! Their earnings go into a ‘Current’ on a high profile (and often very
account and they can choose to spend, save, invest or opt demanding) career – and maybe even
to donate a percentage of their virtual wealth to charities. whether they want to have kids or not.
Some place more emphasis on having
Adding another dimension to their financial literacy journey more freedom to do what makes them
is the link between career choices and earning potential. happy, opting for a more experiential
Each child starts as a gardener. They can work their way lifestyle, rather than accumulating a
up to a better-paying occupation by investing in further lot of material possessions that will
education. For each position on the pay scale, there’s a cost undoubtedly weigh them down. But
to achieve a better qualification, but the trade-off is that even this option must surely involve
each time a module is completed at the higher level, they some kind of financial stability.
are paid more. This establishes the important connection
between seeing education as an investment, and a route The bottom line is that it’s great to be ‘in
to earning more income by becoming better qualified. the moment’, spending without a care in
the world to achieve that ‘feel good’ factor,
NET WEALTH but adding a long-term component to
The MoneyTime SA course also shows that earning money their outlook on life could lead to some
by working (to complete the modules) is not the only way ‘sensational moments’ further down the
to increase one’s net worth. Earning interest on savings and line, if your kids are conversant with all
getting a return on investments are essential ingredients the right strategies to make the best of
to achieving growth. As they complete more modules, the financial resources at their disposal.
“We need to drive a savings culture to break the cycle of inter-generational debt”

Prem Govender, South African Savings Institute

References: https://savingsinstitute.co.za/, https://moneytimekids.co.za/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy, IMAGE BY STEVE BUISSINNE
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-fertility-rate-idUSKBN2AO0UH

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