Improvements in technology and digital dollars has given us many advantages, but is it necessarily going to create a new generation of financially savvy kids?
We can all relate to using our cards to pay for our groceries. But what about when we do this and get cash out? What do our kids make of this? Do they think the supermarket gives us money as well as food?
The other problem we have, according to Paul Clitheroe the chairman of Australian Financial Literacy Board, is talking about money with our kids.
He was speaking recently at the Australian launch of Banqer, a new digital financial literacy program which is already available to 30,000 kids in New Zealand and 28 schools in Australia.
Banqer is a hands-on, virtual classroom economy, designed to help school kids in years one to seven put into practice life lessons around saving, investing and insurance.
Teachers set up the economy and students earn digital money for performing classroom tasks and for good behavior, but also incur costs for such things as hiring their school desk.
Teachers can trigger events such interest rate rises, which have a ripple effect on the classroom economy.
Banqer founder and CEO, Kendall Flutey, attributes the idea behind Banqer to a trip back to her family home and a conversation with her then 11-year- old brother, Jordy.
Struck by his sophisticated line of questioning and conversation around business and financial concepts, Kendall learnt that Jordy’s teacher had been running a manual classroom economy program where the children could earn ‘money’ and spend it.
After meeting with the teacher, and using her own accounting and web development skills, Kendall partnered with him and built Banqer.
She hopes it will help prevent a generation of kids from having a negative relationship with money and stop them from being mislead financially, while also encouraging them to talk about money with their families.
Netwealth is fully funding the rollout of Banqer to 15,000 Australian kids nationwide because we want to help build a better financial future for Australians.
