
My 7.5 years old daughter recently asked me out of curiosity about the exact nature of my job. I explained in simple terms “I help people manage their money and how they should save for the future. If they use it all up now, they can be in trouble later”. She quickly blurted out her analogy in excitement “Just like if I eat up all chocolates in one day, there will be none left for tomorrow. And I can fall ill today.” Amazed at her prompt response and understanding, I realised that parents need to have money conversations with their children right from young age. But parents refrain from talking about it as they think kids are too young to understand. If children can learn coding from 6 years, why not the basics of money? And the moot lesson to teach is only ONE to start with. SAVING money. Bombarded with choices today in everything and dealing with peer pressure, savings is the basic tenet we can teach our kids and which is easily relatable. Earn 100 but save something, do not spend it all. The best way for parents to preach is to lead by example and inculcate in their kid’s value system. I never hesitate to use the word expensive in front of my child, even if we can comfortably afford something but is not worth. Do share your experiences on money conversations with your kids