Johannesburg – Money Smart Week South Africa (MSWSA) is a financial literacy campaign of the national consumer financial education committee, National Treasury and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority aimed at empowering people to become better educated about their finances.
Some of the topics to be unpacked throughout the week include building resilient businesses, being aware of scams and fraud, responsible use of credit, the importance of retirement and funeral planning, how to budget, the importance of encouraging a money savvy youth and why you need to draft a will.
Becoming financial savvy has increasingly become important in the unfolding tough economic climate.
According to National Debt Advisors, South African consumers can’t afford to pay for their bills, with data from TransUnion showing that 82% of consumers are struggling to cope financially.
Shaping your children’s attitude to money can be one of the ways to help them prepare for a debt-free future. Shafeeqah Isaacs, the head of financial education at financial services provider DirectAxis, canvassed some of her colleagues with children of different ages about some age-appropriate lessons to help children become financially responsible adults.
Age 3-5: You can’t always get what you want, right now. We live in an era of instant gratification, from take-away foods to online shopping. While your three-year old isn’t likely to be ordering Uber Eats during nap time, teaching children early that some things are worth waiting for may prevent them racking up credit-card debt later in life.
Age 6-10: You’re responsible for the financial choices you make. You can teach your children the basics of financial decision-making by explaining financial priorities. For example, you can tell them how and when you get paid, you first need to pay bills like rent, and you also need to buy groceries.
If you do this carefully, you’ll have some money left over.
Some of it can be saved and the rest used for entertainment.
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