Friday, February 12, 2010

Financial Literacy for Primary Students

Someone asked for my views on the content of a financial literacy talk to primary students. After discussion, we agreed to cover the following:

* to spend what is needed from the parent's allowance, and set aside savings
* to put the savings in a bank to earn interest
* to pay for what they like from their savings, rather than depend on their parents
* to learn about what the parent has to do, to earn the money to support the family

My friend told me this story. His elder son, who is five years old, wanted to buy an expensive toy. He said, "Patrick, daddy can buy you this toy, but he has to stay back at the office until late at night to earn the money to pay for this toy. Do you wish daddy to come home earlier, or stay back at the office until late at night?" Patrick decided that he did not want the toy.

What are your views on the financial literacy matters that should be taught to primary students?

Tan Kin Lian
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The habit of saving should starts from young and primary school kids are the right audience.
I recalled during my time (many years ago), my teacher would encourage the kids to buy stamps. Each stamp cost $0.10. When we have 20 stamps ie $2, that money would be deposited into POSB.
Nowadays, where has this good virtue.
For me, I give my girl weekly allowance since p1. She learns to manage this allowance. When she goes to sec school, I will give her monthly allowance.
Afterall, we working adults get paid only monthly.

starlight

February 09, 2010 7:40 AM
jen said...

Someone interviewed in papers said his mum used to teach him "as long as you earn more than you spend, you will be rich but even if you earn big bucks but spend more than you earn, you will always be poor". So the essence is no matter how much you earn, even if it is 1K, with careful spending, you can still save and find you have a tidy sum after a period of time. But compared to one who earns 10k but uses credit card to overspend, he will become poorer and poorer. I must instil this into my kids.

February 09, 2010 1:30 PM
Anonymous said...

There is only 1 point I wish to educate my kids. Needs or Want?

If it is a Need, it will be covered by parents. If it is a want, then it has to review.

February 10, 2010 9:12 AM
Carlos said...

Those are some pretty good comments. To me, Financial Literacy is still a luxury for most. It begins when a person is a child and develops throughout a person's lifetime. The most important thing you can do is surround yourself with people who are financially literate and ask lots of questions. Be curious. Take an interest in finance.

Cheers from the States,
Financialtales

February 23, 2010 1:38 AM

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