Wealth of ideas in children’s book

Kiwi Wealth CEO Rhiannon McKinnon knows only too well how good money habits can set you up for a good retirement and she’s hoping a children’s book produced by her and her team will help young people learn about putting money aside for the future.

McKinnon, who has three young children, said the idea for the book came about after the KiwiSaver provider began looking at ways it could help lift financial literacy in New Zealand.

“One of the things we have noticed when we are working really hard to educate our customers around finance and KiwiSaver is that the level of financial awareness in New Zealand remains something we can all work on together.

“We thought it’s all very well trying to teach someone as a KiwiSaver provider but it certainly helps if they emerge into adulthood with a good sense of financial literacy.”

She said research from Massey University pointed to the importance of what parents teach their children at home.

“And it just got us thinking about . . . helping parents have really good conversations about money with their children. So we thought a fun children’s book could be something that we could work with.”

McKinnon said the book, called Mia, Her Superhero and the Chicken Coop, was a team effort. “The idea around the chicken coop comes from a colleague. He had moved out of the city into the Wairarapa and his 7-year-old son was keeping chickens, saving his pocket money and so forth. The kernel of the idea for the story came from one of those real-life experiences.”

She said the key lesson in the story was to “save some of your money so you can buy things that you want later on”.

● Mia, Her Superhero and the Chicken Coop is on sale on Amazon with proceeds going to the charity Read NZ Te Pou Muramura.