The fact that nowadays most of our children see us pay for food, clothes and toys by means of a card or a cheque and withdrawing money from an ATM, may give them the false impression that money is very easy to get your hands on. Helping your child to understand and respect money from an early age will help them manage it better in adulthood.

Once children understand the importance of money they can make wise decisions relating to financial matters in their future life. Appreciating the value of money and how to save it, make it grow, and most importantly how to spend it wisely will definitely help them to achieve more in life.

A very simple way to teach your children the value of one’s earnings is to involve them in the management of the day to day expenses. First of all it is important for them to understand where the money came from and what it is used for. Explain that in order to earn money one must work hard.

When for example you are about to purchase something for the house or planning a holiday, explain that there is a budget or a limit of how much money can be spent. Involve them if possible and let them know how to plan in order to save up the money you need to enjoy life. Explain if possible the principle of income and expenses. The child needs to understand the concept and value that one needs to work hard to earn money before this is spent.

As children become more familiar with money they’ll start to understand how it is used on a daily basis. This includes the many different ways people can pay for things. The most important message to convey to children about spending is “when it’s gone, it’s gone!”

Explain to your children that saving money may be critical to help you manage difficult times or allow you to plan for major life events such as education, purchase of a car or property or even the birth of a child. Placing a portion of their pocket-money into a piggy bank would also help your children start saving. Parents may grant pocket-money when children help them around with household chores, thus associating earning money with work. After giving them pocket-money let them have the experience of choosing how to use it. As children get older the most important thing is that they learn the concept of “save, spend, save again”.

Encourage teenage children to plan a budget for something they might want to buy. By looking at all the costs in advance, they’ll find they can make their money go a lot further. Once children learn basic budgeting through direct experience, it’s there for life. As your child becomes more independent, it’s good for them to hear other peoples’ experiences.

Just like adults do, children should also learn how to make a proper investment out of the saved money. We can always guide them on what to buy with the money they have saved. You can start by opening a bank account in their name or you might wish to initiate and gradually build an investment portfolio for them, along with your own funds. This will make them feel that the saved money has been invested in the right manner.

Carrying out the above mentioned activities will help you teaching them the importance of money. It is important for your child to learn positive financial habits. Although the motivation needs to come from within your child, a little guidance and clear expectations will go a long way toward getting them into the habit. More importantly your child’s attitude about personal finance takes cues from your own, so re-examine your own approach to money, if it seems like the lesson isn’t getting through, for what you do always speaks louder than what you say.

Ngħallmu l-valur tal-flus lil uliedna

It-tfal illum qed jarawna aktar inħallsu l-ikel, il-ħwejjeġ u l-ġugarelli bil-credit card jew b’ċekk. Jarawna wkoll niġbdu l-flus minn ATM. Dan jista’ jagħtihom l-impressjoni li l-flus faċli tiksibhom. Li ngħinu t-tfal tagħna jifhmu u jibżgħu għall-flus sa minn età żgħira hu importanti ħalli meta jikbru jkunu jafu jimmaniġġjaw flushom aħjar. Dan hu ta’ ġid għall-futur tagħhom għax jekk jifhmu u jagħrfu din l-importanza jkunu jistgħu jieħdu deċiżjonijiet finanzjarji għaqlin aktar ’il quddiem f’ħajjithom.

B’hekk jitgħallmu japprezzaw il-valur tal-flus u kif iffaddluhom, kif iżidu l-valur tagħhom, u – l-aktar ħaġa importanti – kif jonfquhom b’mod għaqli.

Se nsemmi issa ftit metodi li nistgħu nużaw biex nispjegaw u ngħinu lit-tfal jifhmu aħjar il-valur tal-flus.

Mod sempliċi hu li ninvolvu lil uliedna fl-immaniġġjar tal-ispejjeż ta’ kuljum. Qabelxejn, importanti nfehmuhom minn fejn jiġu l-flus u għaliex jintużaw. Tajjeb nispjegawlhom li dawn ma jaqgħux mis-sema imma trid taħdem ħafna għalilhom.

Meta, ngħidu aħna, tkun qed tippjana li tixtri xi ħaġa għad-dar jew għal xi vaganza, spjegalhom li hemm baġit jew limitu ta’ flus li tista’ tonfoq. Jekk ikun possibbli involvihom u għidilhom kif qed tippjana li tfaddal il-flus għal dan. Spjegalhom li, biex tkun tista’ tħallas xi ħaġa, ridt taħdem għal numru ta’ ġranet biex taqla’ l-flus.

Meta t-tfal isiru aktar midħla tal-flus, jibdew japprezzaw aktar kif nużawhom ta’ kuljum. Jibdew jifhmu wkoll il-modi differenti li nistgħu nużaw biex inħallsu. L-aktar messaġġ importanti li rridu nwasslulhom hu dwar it-tberbiq tal-flus, jiġifieri li “meta nonfqu l-flus, ma jerġgħux jiġu lura”.

Spjegalhom kemm hu importanti li nfaddlu għax dan jgħinna f’mumenti diffiċli. Li t-tfal ifaddlu xi ħaġa mill-pocket money fil-karus tagħhom jgħinhom biex huma wkoll jibdew ifaddlu. Il-ġenituri jistgħu jagħtu xi ħaġa tal-flus lil uliedhom meta jgħinuhom fix-xogħol tad-dar u b’hekk uliedna jibdew jassoċjaw il-flus max-xogħol. Wara li tagħtihom xi ħaġa tal-flus ħallihom jiddeċiedu huma kif se jużawhom – imbagħad jagħmlu dak li jkunu ddeċidew. L-aktar kunċett importanti li għandna nwasslu lil uliedna hu dak ta’ “faddal, onfoq, erġa’ ibda faddal”.

Meta uliedna jibdew jitfarfru u jidħlu fl-adolexxenza tajjeb li nħajruhom jibdew jippjanaw baġit għal xi ħaġa li jridu. Jekk jaraw l-ispejjeż kollha minn qabel, jintebħu li jistgħu jużaw flushom aħjar. Jekk it-tfal jitgħallmu l-affarijiet bażiċi, relatati mal-immaniġġjar tal-flus, bl-esperjenza diretta, dawn jibqgħu magħhom tul ħajjithom kollha. Meta ulienda jibdew isiru aktar indipendenti, ikun tajjeb ukoll għalihom li jisimgħu l-esperjenzi ta’ ħaddieħor.

U bħalma jagħmlu l-kbar, it-tfal iridu jitgħallmu wkoll kif jagħmlu investiment tajjeb bil-flus imfaddlin li jkollhom. Dwar dan, nistgħu niggwidawhom fuq x’jistgħu jagħmlu bil-flus li jkunu faddlu. Ngħidu aħna, tista’ tinvestilhom flushom billi tiftħilhom kont bankarju f’isimhom, jew billi tibda tibnilhom portafoll ta’ investiment, bi flushom u bi ftit flus oħra minn tiegħek. Dan jgħinhom iħossu li l-flus li qed ifaddlu qed jiġu investiti bl-aħjar mod.

Dan kollu li semmejna jgħin lil uliedna jitgħallmu fuq l-importanza tal-flus. Tajjeb li t-tfal, miċ-ċokon, ikollhom drawwiet finanzjarji pożittivi. Għalkemm il-motivazzjoni trid tiġi mit-tfal stess, xi ftit ta’ gwida u aspettazzjonijiet ċari jgħinuhom ħafna biex irawmu fihom dawn id-drawwiet. It-tfal jixorbu l-attitudnijiet tal-kbar, u l-attitudni ta’ wliedna fuq il-finanzi hi riflessjoni tal-attitudni tagħna.

Għalhekk, tajjeb li minn żmien għal żmien neżaminaw ir-relazzjoni tagħna mal-flus. Għal uliedna dak li nagħmlu jħalli impatt ferm akbar minn dak li ngħidu.