As we watch our children grow, we can’t help but be reminded of our own childhood experiences and the life skills that would have been useful to learn back then. It’s this realization that drives us to equip our kids with the practical knowledge we think they would need later on, and these include money lessons.
To help parents teach financial literacy for kids, St. James’s Place Wealth Management (SJP), a leading wealth management group and FTSE 100 company with over £118 billion of client funds under management, announces the launch of its new online financial literacy portal, Money123, in Asia.
Money123 aims to provide financial education resources that equip people at various life stages with important personal finance education and awareness, enabling them to make informed financial decisions leading to good and sustainable outcomes. The portal launches with a variety of informative materials designed to teach money lessons for kids in an easy-to-follow and engaging way, using interactive videos and child-friendly workshops. Fun games and other similar resources are also made available to illustrate essential money management concepts.
Teaching Financial Literacy at an Early Age
Research has shown that children can understand the concept of money from as young as three years old and that most money habits are ingrained by the age of seven. With the launch of Money123, SJP is focused on helping the children of today learn more about their personal finances and building good financial habits so that they can achieve financial wellbeing for their future.
This initiative from St. James’s Place initially caters to children from the ages of 3 to 18 years old and is based on the concepts of “Earn it, Keep it, Grow it” introduced in the children’s book Save Your Acorns, authored by Robert Gardner, Director of Investments at SJP, who also chairs the Children’s Financial Education Policy Council in the UK. Money123 provides one-stop access to children financial literacy resources, hosting a variety of workshops and research papers in both English and Cantonese (voiced by former securities analyst and Miss Hong Kong, Sandy Lau Sin-ting). Over the coming months, new webinars and tools focused on other aspects of financial literacy for kids will also be launched on Money123.
Robert Gardner, Director of Investments, St. James’s Place, said, “Financial education is one of the most important lessons to teach our children. With today’s children facing more money pressures than ever before, it is important that we get them on the right path sooner, rather than later. Now is an excellent opportunity to start the conversation and set the foundations for good saving and investing habits that will last a lifetime.”
Meanwhile, Joel Carpenter, Divisional Director for Marketing of St. James’s Place Asia, has this to say regarding money lessons for kids, “Our objective is to create a valuable, user-focused knowledge centre for our community to access useful resources, improving financial literacy from an early age, making a difference to the lives of our future generations. This is an often overlooked area in inculcating good financial habits for the long-term and Money123 aims to inspire more informed and effective decision making and action among the younger generations when it comes to the key principles of money – how to earn it, keep it and grow it.”
Regarding parenting and financial literacy for kids, Sandy Lau adds, “Learning financial literacy at an early stage is a valuable asset that will no doubt benefit children throughout their lives. As a parent myself, it is indeed not an easy topic to teach young children, so I am glad to be invited by Robert to take part in this project with St. James’s Place. I hope to see more of these similar educational resources produced and made available to children for building a strong foundation for their future development. Of course, I hope they all enjoy my storytelling!”
Getting Started with Money Lessons for Kids
As we strive to be good parents and teach our children all the life skills we possibly could, it’s good to know that there are companies that we can count on to make money lessons for kids easier and more enjoyable. With the launch of the innovative education portal Money123 from St. James’s Place, financial literacy for kids is now an achievable goal.
