Starting young - financial basics for kids

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Train a good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hi, how are you going?

Speaker 1 (00:02):
So it's fine, We're good. So it's fine. That Financial
Literacy Month.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yes, it is, so.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
Tell us about basic the Basic Financial Basic Foundation.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah. The Financial Basics Foundation is an independent charity. We've
been around for over twenty years and we create financial
literacy resources for Australian educators and we've been providing those
resources free of charge to school and what we've done
in the last year we've expanded to start providing those
resources to parents and terrors, and to employers and to

(00:35):
young people directly. And it's really important that kids not
only get this information, but they're also getting this information
from quality, credible, independent sources.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
What's a really important message that you would give young
people to learn about their finances.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
I would say learn learn the financial rules of some
and that means it's not about working out formula or calculation.
It's some simple actions of behaviors that you can carry
throughout your whole life. And they include things like pay
yourself first, so you always put aside a portion of
your income into savings, and you spend less than you earn.

(01:13):
You learn to budget and you learn to pay your
bills on time and a couple of those simple behaviors
can start from very young and you apply them throughout
your life.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
No matter what I read in your research that girls
are just slipping through the cracks of the mathematic literacy
in this country, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
That kind of sets across into so many young people.
And that's why we're calling for financial literacy to be
a standalone course outside of maths. It's a personal development
and wellbeing area and that's where it should sit because
it is currently delivered in an ad hoc manner in
schools and it tends to sit in mathematics and economics

(01:52):
and business, and many students, especially girls, switch off with
this learning approach, and girls assume that personal finance is
heavily associated with maths. And although there are numbers and
there's some numeracy in it, it's not it's personal development.
It's attitudes and behavior. So we really need to build
the confidence of girls to understand personal finance, and by

(02:16):
keeping it in maths, we don't think it's the most
effective way to do that.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
What about a lot of kids now, there's the feeling
that some kids growing up now are a little bit
more entitled and their generation of having things and We've
seen the introduction of afterpay and easy access for credit
for people, so young people are starting to spend money
that they don't have. Are you teaching try and stay

(02:40):
away from credit and only live within your means.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Absolutely, That's exactly what I spoke about at the beginning.
One of the rules of some spend less than you earn.
You know, time is money understanding the concept of compound interest.
Sleep on it is a rule of some and that
means don't mutch into purchases. Is it part of your budget,
you know, maybe make a moment, sleep on it. You
still wanting that thing the next day, And that's that
restrained spending. You don't have to have everything immediately. The

(03:07):
other stuff that tifts in financial literacy and financial capability
is around marketing and comparing yourself to others. So having
a conversation around why do you feel you need to
do that? And you know, just because that person has
that thing, and do we need it immediately? That instant gratification.
So that's around building those attitudes and behaviors that exactly

(03:30):
work against that kind of I need to have it
immediately and that person's got it, and I'm comparing myself
to them, I need to have it straight away. So
it's a skill in it, a behavior that we think
is really important to teach all young people.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
I love that. My mum used to say, do you
want it or need it? And I'll give you everything
you want you need, but you can buy everything you
want and that's it. I'm doing that with my daughter
now and she says I want this. I'm like, do
you want it all? You need it?

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yes? So when we talk about what's age appropriate, that's
almost the first lesson, and you can start that really
early on.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
We're talking about it for the kids, but sometimes I
need to hear it too.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
There's lots of moments this note to self.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, Katrina, we really appreciate your time this morning. I
think this is a great foundation and starting process for
young people to actually get ahead a lot quicker.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
Oh, brilliant, Thank you.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Thanks so much.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Take care