INSIGHT: Nurture Your Children On Entrepreneurial Path & Teach Them How To Plan Their Spending – Na’ im Sulaiman
Entrepreneurship is a vital part of any thriving economy. In an emerging country like Nigeria, it is essential to teach children the concept of money, get them to be disciplined, and pay attention to the strengths and interests your children bring to the table. All people wants their children to have a good life and become valuable to society. But do all parents take necessary measures? Sooner or later we all seek answers to that.
Teaching children about money could be multidisciplinary, why money is important, how money is used in everyday life, and how to manage spending. The core areas of learning are Budgeting, Saving, and Investing. It doesn’ t have to be a complicated process, make it simple and easy, so they don’ t grow up thinking that budgets are hard and onerous (like many of our youngsters grew up thinking) if they get in to the habit at an early stage, it will pay off huge when they grew up. But one thing is certain, your children will learn more from your actions than your words, so both the parents and the children have to adopt entrepreneurial mindset. Teach them one habit at a time, because they are not going to become skilled financial planners overnight, or in one month, or even in a year. A parent goal should be to them these lessons over the course of their childhood and adolescence. So teach one skill at a time, until they’ ve learned that skill, then move on to the next. There is no rush. Let them learn by doing; You can’ t teach them by telling. You have to tell (in brevity), then show, then let them do. Let them make mistakes, and if you set it up right, they’ ll learn better habits on their own, by doing.
Give them control of money. If your children don’ t have control of money before adulthood, they learn that money will always be provided for them. When they finally get control of their own money, they apply these lessons by spending liberally and not worrying about the future. Teach your children that reducing expenses makes financial goals comes faster. This goes hand-in-hand with the above lesson, and if you teach your children about saving goals, they’ ll probably learn this lesson on their own. It’ s a common sense, and kids are smart enough to figure it out; “if i want to get a goal faster, i have to save more” which means spending less on other unnecessary stuffs. Teach them that it takes money and resource to make money. Investment remains a priority, and investing is a lesson many of us can learn.
Teach them about the dangers of debt. This probably isn’ t a lesson they can understand when they’ re 6 or 7 years old, but when they’ re teenagers, they can grasp the concept. You will need to discuss things like loans, credit cards and other debts. If you want them to learn by doing.
Teach them about advertising and consumerism. This is something that should be taught at home and in the school, because most of us grow up without really being aware of the effects that advertising, marketing and consumerism has on us, and on our spending. This is often one of the root of our financial problems, whether we are young or old.
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