Compulsory Consumer Finance Education Discussion

Rhoda_3

How about teaching budgetting in schools? How about teaching the idea of saving for things instead of borrowing? Credit is more difficult to get nowadays, so I think at least some saving is going to be essential. And if you're income has gone down, you really need to budget carefully to save anything.

There could be specialist classes for particular groups too - for instance, older kids who are about to go to uni, or start work, or who might be unemployed.

If teachers haven't got time (& I can completely understand if they haven't) there are plenty of organisations who would be delighted to go into schools & do some lessons on finance.

Education about advertising would be good too. There's been so much credit advertising in the past that a lot of people have taken credit they can't afford & really got into a mess. I try not to eat too much chocolate but its difficult when I keep seeing ads everywhere! It really brings home the power of advertising to me.

money4nothing

Start when they are little - talk to them about figures and money. Don't give in to every demand. Equate one of these = ten of these and make it fun. Love the idea of going to a supermarket and would be very interested to know which supermarket(s) would collaborate! I have a 3 year old and when we go shopping, I explain that we choose what we need and we don't have to have the Mickey Mouse yogurts or Pooh bear biscuits...(obviously both more expensive than standard products)
APRs
It's only a bargain if you need it.
If it's 20% off £50, you are still spending £40 - do you really need it??
Pension saving and accumulation over time.
Do a personal budget - income vs. outgoings to really crystallise the net result - I love the budget planner and use it regularly to help me focus on areas we could change.
Just a few random thoughts and hope they help!

olly300

Rhoda wrote: »

How about teaching budgetting in schools? How about teaching the idea of saving for things instead of borrowing? Credit is more difficult to get nowadays, so I think at least some saving is going to be essential. And if you're income has gone down, you really need to budget carefully to save anything.

There could be specialist classes for particular groups too - for instance, older kids who are about to go to uni, or start work, or who might be unemployed.

If teachers haven't got time (& I can completely understand if they haven't) there are plenty of organisations who would be delighted to go into schools & do some lessons on finance.

The problem is timetabling for pupils.

Marisa_2

First time on a forum so please forgive me if i've done this incorrectly!

I think the young kids of today should be taught the following;

How and why to save.
Explanation of this "buy now pay later" ethic that has appeared over the years and how bad it is.
As a kid I never had pocket money. My parents said that if I wanted it, I would have to earn it, so, being so young (6 upwards) I would do the household chores (cut the grass, wash the cars and vans, cleaning windows etc). Not only did I learn the monetary value of what I wanted to what I could afford, but it grounded me to realise you don't get everything you want and that you had to SAVE! YES SAVE!

MAMFYGRIF

My son is 13 and is constantly asking questions about paying bills, bank accounts, mortgages...he is quite concerned that he won't know what to do when he has his own home. I think that in secondary school, children are exposed to all these issues at home from listening to parents and in the media, and as they are naturally inquisitive, it would be a great time for them to have access to sessions in school, perhaps as an extra to citizenship/PSHE, where an independent professional can instruct them regarding the basic necessities of managing in the adult world.

In primary, they are still too young and not really interested past how to pay for things in shops! They can relate to saving their pocket money for special items, and generally teachers do tackle money management appropriate to the age group when the opportunity arises.

Julieatkins

How about "money doesn't grow on trees"; parents aren't usually loaded, they have to work for their money. Sometimes we can't have everything we want, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. And it's a cliche, but we all try to remind our children what people in poor countries don't/can't have, but it might mean something coming from a teacher. Our children want all the latest gadgets and fashions, while millions of children are struggling to eat, etc.

What a shame it won't happen for another 2 years!

kayjay1809

My son is in year 5 and is a mature 9 year old, with quite a good understanding of money due to us being open at home about our debt and making him save for what he wants. He wants to 'work in a bank' or 'with money' as he is keen on maths and money. However, in order to do this he will have to go to university and, due to our inability to live within our means, will have no choice but to go in to severe debt in order to get his degree, if that is the route he wants to go. How can the government be so hypocritical as to say we need to educate kids away from the 'buy now spend later' mentality and the terrible debt mountain we all have, but to educate them into a life of debt from the age of 18. They all went to university with grants paying for their fees and living expensives but our kids won't. Hmmm a bit hypocritical methinks.

I think the most useful thing to teach kids is the difference between 'needs' and 'wants'. Most kids want, want and want. Our son wanted a coat at the weekend, which he doesn't need. So I offered to buy it him for Christmas but he declined. So I said did he want to buy it out of his (substantial - I did say he liked money) savings but he declined. On Monday he shivered his way to school, making out his current coat just wasn't warm enough - it did make me laugh. But it was a lesson learnt.

ClareJB

How about how you work out a mortgage? I am still trying and I am on home number 2!
All about tax and NI - how much we as indidivuals pay and what it goes towards
Credit cards - the fact that they are not credit but debit cards!
Pensions - if you start saving as soon as you start working it will make a big difference when you are older.
Why not teach all of the above under the subject of maths - it would make it more interesting!

Good luck!
Clare

MONEYMAKINGMUM

Some good ideas for all ages on previous posts.

My children (4 of them) asked me about a poster with '£30 a month phone with free texts'. I explained nothing is free if you are paying £30 a month for it.

We discussed how much that would be a week and yearly total. They were surprised by how much it was and all thought it was too much, and 'how much would texts be if you had to pay for them as well because £360 was a lot of money'!
I asked what would they like to buy if they had that lump sum, after lots of umming even their big ideas were cheaper (they are young) I said we could all go on holiday for that, which they all agreed would be a better spend.

Sometimes we have to make spending mistakes to learn from them (we've all done it) If they have their £1 chore money they can spend it or save it towards something bigger. I let them all find this out their own way, there's nothing like experience to remind us

biscit

MAMFYGRIF wrote: »

In primary, they are still too young and not really interested past how to pay for things in shops! They can relate to saving their pocket money for special items, and generally teachers do tackle money management appropriate to the age group when the opportunity arises.

True but there are things that are appropriate to the age group. Playing shop for instance with prices and toy money gives them a familiarity with the fact things need paying for.

Also I think the best way is to tie this in to other skills, not teach it as something that exists in isolation- because it doesn't.