In September 2021, with CFA Society Ireland's support, I published "Money Matters".

A book tailored for young people focusing on Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship and Investing.

Money Matters Book

 

In this video, I wanted to respond to the main comments and questions I get about testing young people about money and a summary of what I include in here is:

 

Summary of Points

1. The way I made it relevant for this age group was to centre around money decisions that are, respectively, relevant for this age group.

2. Teenagers can learn to make money early.

3. Set up a portfolio on Yahoo Finance or Google Sheets. Encourage them to look at the stock prices of the companies they use

Incentivise them with a reward.

4. Simulate the reality of real-life when it comes to making their own money choices.

5. Rather than worry about them taking on your bad habits, work through them with them and show them you're open to taking action. That's much more powerful.

6. Your kids are listening to what you say and do all the time. They see it as the status quo. What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.

7. Pocket money is more about the decisions they take and the consequences they have rather than the amount.

8. Kids can handle much more complex topics than you might think.

9. It can help to describe the stock market as a big shop where you can buy lots of things (ie pieces of companies), but instead of eating them or wearing them, your intention is to sell them at a profit in the future.

10. The risk profile of a child or teenager can be much higher than is often assumed - one can take a long term view on their money as they're unlikely to need it due to job loss! Rather than save, consider investing instead and even better, teaching them how to do it for themselves with your guiding supervision.

Thank you to CFA Society Ireland for the opportunity to work together.

Money Matters is available for sale at https://www.thepositiveeconomist.com/bookshop

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