Why is it important to talk about this topic?
Knowing how to save, use, and manage income and expenses from an early age is important for developing various life skills. This is the key to financial education, which we want to talk to you about today.
In the latest survey conducted in Argentina, 7 out of 10 people between the ages of 14 and 19 believe that the most important school subject for their future is financial and economic education . According to the same survey, among 3,500 adolescents from different Argentine provinces, more than 80% agreed that their primary source of information on money-related issues is their immediate family (*).
Thus, developing the necessary skills to manage money is the first step toward making responsible decisions, both for small goals and for long-term projects.
How to educate children and adolescents about finances?
Financial education for minors must be carried out in a supported and progressive manner,
This way, they learn what each thing is about and, above all, they can understand why it is important.
For example, there are apps, that make it easier for families to take the first steps in managing money: it reduces the use of cash, provides security, and allows for transactions that are usually carried out by adults.
In addition, it offers a flexible tool for managing money, helps with spending control, and at the same time promotes conversations about family and personal finances.
What topics do you need to start talking about regarding money in your family?
Regarding the topics you should address when educating children about personal finance management, Junior Achievement Argentina spokesperson María Itatí Cabral states that they interact with money, or engage in symbolic games involving money, from an early age.
“That’s why it’s essential to include concepts like budget, risk, investment, credit, and inflation in everyday life so they’re no longer just adult words,” Cabral says.
In this way, we are involving children and adolescents in family finances, and in turn, they can understand topics that will be important for everyday life.
It’s essential, then, to talk about money management so that we understand what it means to earn money, on the one hand, and know how to use it, how to generate it, and how to distribute it.
In this way, financial education is carried out on a daily basis, knowing that what is practiced from an early age will be developed throughout life.
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(*) Statistics from Junior Achievement and the Center for Evidence-Based Policy Evaluation (CEPE) at Di Tella University, in their research on financial knowledge and habits of adolescents in Argentina.
