Cashing in on nana’s advice

Look after the pennies

WANT to grow a money-smart kid? Channel your grandma.

‘‘Look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves’’, or, ‘‘never a borrower or a lender be’’. The latter was an adage I often heard from my nana. Her thrifty attitude was born from living through the Great Depression and World War II.

It’s a far cry from today’s world where credit still comes pretty easy, consumer goods are relatively cheap and kids seem to be born screaming for you to whack the latest ‘‘must-have’’ on your credit card.

As our grandparents’ financial habits were shaped by scarcity and what they learnt from their parents, our young are shaped by the financial lives we lead.

There is no-one more important than a parent in determining how your children will interact with money.

‘‘The onus is on parents,’’ David Kneebone from the Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement says, ‘‘It’s crucial they walk the talk.’’

As financial trainer Hannah McQueen says, you know as a parent if you are a good financial role model. ‘‘If you know you are not a good role model, you need to fix yourself.’’

She says patterns start early. There’s no use finger-pointing and blaming society, TV, credit card companies or toy manufacturers. It’s you.

Children need to be taught about receiving money and choosing what to do with it – the ins and outs of how money works, McQueen says.

‘‘We need to create an awareness of money. If we don’t they will end up financially stressed. Financial stress is the leading source of insomnia in women. It’s the No 1 cause of relationship breakdowns,’’ she says.