How to teach your kids about money, without making it boring
Thinking back to when I was in school, I struggle to remember any classes where money or financial literacy was the topic. Sure, we'd cover things such as compound interest in maths, and I have a vague recollection of CBA's ill-fated Dollarmites popping in at some point, but that's about it. I have a far better recollection of the teachings of our lord and saviour Healthy Harold, but he was a giraffe puppet, so perhaps that's an unfair comparison.
Unfortunately, by all accounts, things haven't gotten much better in the [REDACTED] years since I've left school. Melbourne University's HILDA survey in 2020 showed a sharp drop in financial literacy for those aged 24 and under, and numerous surveys since then have reinforced that young people are falling behind when it comes to money smarts.
What's the problem?
A lot of the blame for this has been lumped on the government and schools, which is fair. The national curriculum does include some aspects of financial literacy, but it's largely up to schools on how to implement it, and it's not a stand-alone subject.
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The government has also not made financial literacy a priority for years, with a 2022 decision to shift responsibility for the area from ASIC to Treasury effectively shuttering any progress.
This has meant a lot of responsibility for this stuff has fallen, for better or worse, on parents. But when it comes to such an open-ended topic as financial literacy, it can be difficult to work out where to start, especially in a way that will keep younger children engaged.
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