Money Habits Start Early—So Should Financial Literacy

When one is financially literate , then it becomes possible for such a person to have a smart relationship with money. Financial literacy is about the use of money, earning, investments, and anything finance. A lot of people were fortunate to be exposed to finance in their early childhood, which has helped them to make informed decisions when it comes to money as they continued to grow. Unfortunately , that wasn't the case for me!

I first learned about financial literacy in a low-key way during my secondary school stage. Permit me to say that my parent missed it. I was always coming in contact with money , running errands, paying TP, and others, but I wasn't really educated much about money with my parents. My parent was this type of person that will always say, "Focus on your academics; there is time for everything". Back then, once a relative gave me money, they would collect it immediately from me. Not even Nkem, Save this money; it's important for this or that. Or use this money for a need, such as school materials, and not a WANT.

Again, I was always made to support my parents with their petty trading then, but that intentional financial education wasn't there until my secondary school days when I started offering economics and business studies .If I should be sincere , then, I will tell you that I got a grasp of this whole financial literacy during my tertiary days. What an Error! Let me shock you. Those days in my tertiary level, my mates were already relating smartly with money, taking every opportunity in school to make money. Immediately they announce that we are having practicals , they will rush to the market , buy lots of our practical materials, and start selling them to us. How smart most of my mates were, and I begin to wonder how they learned far more than me, but then, even the Bible says, Catch them young.

I was also surprised initially to discover lots of Hivers here who are still pursuing their university admission, and yet, they are already earning and investing for themselves. What a privilege to learn this early enough, but the reverse was just the case for me.

Financial literacy should begin as early as children start understanding their mathematics in school. Money is an important subject for everyone, and so I think we shouldn't wait longer before we start educating our young ones all about money. Instead of kids receiving money and parents collecting it from them, teach them savings, teach them that through investment , the money can grow🪴, teach them all about spending , our needs vs our wants, and let them be financially responsible. Let them understand the concept of money without reservations.

Remember that most habits learned at the childhood stage hardly go away; they have a way of sticking to the memory. Financial literacy isn't an exception, and having the skill and the needed knowledge to handle money responsibly is very vital for everyone.

Look around in our world today and see good numbers of people who earn huge amounts of money but yet lack management skills; the money doesn't stay in their hands. We also have some people who earn very little but double up their capital within a short time through smart money relationships. The difference between the two is simply financial literacy .

The earlier, the better!!

This is my response to the #HiveLearners community contest on the topic titled, Financial Literacy.

Images were taken from canva