How my family taught me financial literacy [EN/PT]

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[EN]

Since I was a child, financial education has always been part of my life, in a very natural way, at home. My grandmother and my godmother always talked a lot about money, not just between themselves, but also with me. It was never a forbidden or too complicated subject for a child to understand. On the contrary, it was something that came up in everyday life — in conversations about grocery shopping, about how to save money for something important, or even about how to cut down on the electricity bill.

I clearly remember when we used to go to the market together, and my grandmother would explain to me why it was better to buy certain fruits at specific times of the year, because they were cheaper. Or when she showed me how she separated the money she received from her pension to pay the bills, buy food, and still save a little for emergencies. She always said that money had to be well taken care of, that it didn’t fall from the sky, and that it was important to know where and how to spend it.

My godmother was also always very present in this aspect. When I got a little money for my birthday or at Christmas, she never told me to just spend it. She taught me to think: “Do you really want to buy this? Is it worth it? And if you save this amount, what could you do with it later?” These questions stayed with me my whole life. Little by little, I started to understand the importance of planning, of having goals, even if simple ones, and of not spending impulsively.

The most curious thing is that I didn’t realize I was learning about financial education. It was all very natural, part of daily life and family routine. Only later, as an adult, did I understand that those lessons were precious and that not everyone was lucky enough to learn that at home.

On the other hand, looking back, I think how important it would have been if school had also addressed this topic. I believe a lot of things would have been easier if, from an early age, besides doing math exercises, we also learned how to organize a budget, understand interest rates, and reflect on conscious consumption. Even with all the foundation I received from my family, it still took me a while to understand more complex things like investments, credit, taxes...

I believe that if this kind of content were part of school education, many people would reach adulthood much more prepared. After all, most of us have to deal with money daily, but we don’t always know how. Many times, we only learn through experience — making mistakes, getting into debt, making impulsive decisions. And that could be different.

That’s why I think financial education should start early, still in childhood, but not only at home. Not all families talk about it with their children, like mine did. So, school can and should be that space for learning. I think that during adolescence, when we start having our first desires to buy things and sometimes even our first experiences with money, it’s a moment when these lessons can have an even greater impact.

If I could give one piece of advice, it would be this: talk to children about money, in a simple, honest way, without fear. The more natural this learning is, the healthier their relationship with money will be in the future. And, of course, schools should also take on this role, helping to shape more conscious people, prepared to deal with the financial challenges of adult life.

This is my experience, and I’m very grateful to my grandmother and my godmother for having taught me so much, even without realizing they were giving me a true financial education.


All the content, pics and editions are of my authorship.
Written in PT-BR. Translated to EN-US using ChatGPT.
Cover: created by Canva.


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[PT]

Desde pequena, a educação financeira fez parte da minha vida, de uma forma muito natural, dentro de casa. Minha avó e minha madrinha sempre conversaram muito sobre dinheiro, não só entre elas, mas também comigo. Nunca foi um assunto proibido ou complicado demais para uma criança entender. Pelo contrário, era algo que surgia no dia a dia, nas conversas sobre as compras do mês, sobre como guardar dinheiro para alguma coisa importante ou até sobre como economizar na conta de luz.

Lembro bem de quando íamos ao mercado juntas e minha avó me explicava por que era melhor comprar certas frutas em determinada época, porque saía mais barato. Ou quando ela me mostrava como separava o dinheiro que recebia da aposentadoria para pagar as contas, comprar comida e ainda guardar um pouco para emergências. Ela sempre dizia que o dinheiro tinha que ser bem cuidado, que ele não caía do céu e que era importante saber onde e como gastar.

Minha madrinha também sempre foi muito presente nesse aspecto. Quando eu ganhava um dinheirinho de aniversário ou no Natal, ela nunca me mandava simplesmente gastar. Ela me ensinava a pensar: “Você quer mesmo comprar isso? Vale a pena? E se você guardar esse valor, o que poderá fazer depois com ele?”. Essas perguntas me acompanharam a vida inteira. Aos poucos, fui entendendo a importância de planejar, de ter metas, mesmo que simples, e de não gastar por impulso.

O mais curioso é que eu não percebia que estava aprendendo sobre educação financeira. Era tudo muito natural, parte da convivência e da rotina. Só mais tarde, já adulta, é que entendi que aquelas lições eram preciosas e que nem todo mundo teve a sorte de aprender isso em casa.

Por outro lado, olhando para trás, penso como teria sido importante se a escola também tivesse abordado esse tema. Acho que muita coisa teria sido mais fácil se, desde cedo, além das contas de matemática, a gente aprendesse a organizar um orçamento, a entender sobre juros, a refletir sobre consumo consciente. Mesmo com toda a base que tive da minha família, demorei para entender algumas coisas mais complexas, como investimentos, crédito, impostos...

Acredito que, se esse tipo de conteúdo fizesse parte da escola, muita gente chegaria à vida adulta mais preparada. Afinal, a maioria de nós precisa lidar com dinheiro diariamente, mas nem sempre sabemos como. Muitas vezes, só aprendemos na prática, errando, acumulando dívidas, tomando decisões impulsivas. E isso poderia ser diferente.

Por isso, penso que a educação financeira deveria começar cedo, ainda na infância, mas não só dentro de casa. Nem todas as famílias falam sobre isso com os filhos, como aconteceu comigo. Então, a escola pode e deve ser esse espaço de aprendizado. Acho que, na adolescência, quando começamos a ter nossos primeiros desejos de consumo e, às vezes, até nossas primeiras experiências com dinheiro, é um momento em que essas lições podem ter um impacto ainda maior.

Se eu pudesse dar um conselho, seria esse: falem sobre dinheiro com as crianças, de maneira simples, sincera, sem medo. Quanto mais natural for esse aprendizado, melhor será a relação delas com o dinheiro no futuro. E, claro, que as escolas também assumam esse papel, formando pessoas mais conscientes e preparadas para lidar com os desafios financeiros da vida adulta.

Essa é a minha experiência, e sou muito grata à minha avó e à minha madrinha por terem me ensinado tanto, mesmo sem saber que estavam me dando uma verdadeira educação financeira.


Todo o conteúdo, imagens e edições são de minha autoria.
Escrito em PT-BR. Traduzido para EN-US usando o ChatGPT.
Capa: criada com Canva.

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21 comments
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Families play an important role in financial education and really, it must start as early as possible because the longer it takes, the more the child becomes terrible with money. Teaching them early will help them avoid some mistakes in life.

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Financial education from an early age makes all the difference, helping children develop responsibility and avoid many mistakes in the future. The family is definitely essential in this process

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Since childhood, children must educate them for life, as the Japanese do, who first teach them to work in teams the first years of their life in school, and years later, they begin with academic training when they have already learned family economy and other vital things.

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Perfect! I really admire this Japanese model, which prioritizes essential life skills before academic focus. Teaching teamwork and family economy early on makes a huge difference in children's development

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(Edited)

Totally! They prepare the citizens of the future, without wasting of time, they have an efficient model that on this side of the world must take as inspiration.

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Financial literacy at the early stage is very good, it would help you gain experience in your adult stage and know how to balance life.

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Financial literacy from an early age prepares for adult life, helps make more conscious decisions, and maintain balance between spending and priorities

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Financial literacy is indeed very good if implemented and taught from childhood

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For sure! Financial education from childhood is essential to form more conscious adults, prepared to deal with money.

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Teaching children how to handle finances from their childhood is good as it would help them in the time to come. Thanks for sharing.

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True! Teaching about finances from childhood is essential so that they grow up more prepared for the future. Thanks for your comment!

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Your post has been curated from the @pandex curation project. Click on the banner below to visit our official website and learn more about Panda-X. Banner Text

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Acredito que, se esse tipo de conteúdo fizesse parte da escola, muita gente chegaria à vida adulta mais preparada.

Ate hoje nao entendo por que nao tem esse tipo de conteudo na escola!

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Sorte sua de ter tido educação financeira na infância, tão raro isso, me parece, sobretudo pra quem mais precisa.
Na escola, então, ainda mais raro, surpreendentemente.

!WRD
!INDEED
!HUG
!HOPE
!PIZZA
!LOLZ

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Isso tinha que ser amplamente implementado!

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