‘Time to get loud about money’

Rachel: Money talk doesn’t have to be scary, nor does it have to be boring.

FINANCIAL literacy for students doesn’t have to be about knowing how the markets are doing. Day trading? Psh. Stockbrokers? Nuh. At our age, where impulse, rather than rationale, takes up a significant proportion of our decision-making, it’s important that we have conversations about money.

And no, that does not include forcing yourself to digest heavy economics jargon.

The topic of money is one thing I find to be of scarcity during the lunch table talks of my generation.

Money and finances do not have to be such an obsolete topic for today’s youths – it’s much better to learn about it now than when you’re piles under debt.

And no, money talk is not “how much do your parents make each year?”, nor is it “how much did that new phone cost?”.

Introductory money talk does not need to be about how the laws imposed by Country X impact the trading it has with Country Y, either.

Introducing the topic of money may be as simple as challenging your friends when they decide to buy a pack of five coloured pens when all they need is a red pen.

Money talk may also be as simple as asking how your friends usually plan the proportions of their allowances.

You could even pose challenges to your friends such as “surviving a week without allowances” and “not spending any money in a week”.

And you could also convince your parents to let you invest with them. Literally.

You don’t have to buy stocks on the stock market, or put bets on which would have rapid growth – I reckon that as gambling, not investing.

If you are able to get your parents to agree to give you interest on top of however much you put in “Mum and Dad Investments Inc” – either compound or simple interest, though compound is always the preferred way to go – then you’d have a good sense of how adults save and invest their money.

And if your financial situation allows it, a viable option to learn best about money is to actually get used to it.

Try making your own money either by taking up a part-time job such as tutoring and selling handmade friendship bracelets.

Theoretical learning will never compare to real-world experience of handling money.

If your parents currently have a tight grip on the inflows and outflows of your allowances, suggest loosening it up.

Try and take some money out and put it in “Mum and Dad Investments Inc”.

You may also spend it on some little luxuries – I’m talking choosing the fried chicken over the normal chicken noodles, not a branded bag or a new device you don’t need.

In all spending, use your own money. Have a taste of how it feels to part with a reward you worked hard for.

Even if you do make a distasteful financial decision somewhere along the learning curve, at least you take something of value from that lesson.

Couldn’t resist the urge to buy that video game? Bought something way over the normal price? Didn’t read the returns policy properly to realise some important fine prints when you found a defect in that shirt? That’s fine.

When you make a mistake at the age of 15 which causes you to lose 50% of your net worth, you may only be losing RM5. But when you make the same mistake at the age of 25, you may be losing RM50,000.

This can be avoided. Understand bad consumer habits that we as humans are naturally inclined to gravitate towards.

Start talking to your friends and parents about it. It’s time we got loud about money.

It’s time we understood it – the moment we understand that we want a grip on money, and not the other way around, is the moment we can rise to control it.

Forget the hush and shush about money. Money talk doesn’t have to be scary, nor does it have to be boring.

Make it a topic of interest, make it a game, and start young while you still can.

Rachel is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team. Throughout the year-long programme, participants aged between 14 and 22 from all across the country experience life as journalists, contributing ideas, conducting interviews, and completing writing assignments. They get to earn bylines, attend workshops, and extend their social networks. To join Star-NiE’s online youth community, go to facebook.com/niebrats.

Turn to the Comics section of today’s copy of the Sunday Star newspaper. Pick one comic strip with at least two cartoon characters. If these characters were to talk about money matters, how would the conversation go? Create speech bubbles for them. Make sure your comic strip conveys a message about good money habits. Work on this activity with a partner. When you are done, role-play the conversation.

Since 1997, The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) programme has supported English language teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools nationwide. Through Star-NiE’s teacher and student workshops, annual contests and monthly English language resources for classroom use, participants of the programme reportedly showed marked interest in the language and progress in their proficiency. Now in its 25th year, Star-NiE is continuing its role of promoting the use of English language through a weekly activity page in StarEdu. These activities are suitable for use individually and in groups, at home and in the classroom, across varied proficiency levels. Parents and teachers are encouraged to work on the activities with their children and students. In addition, Star-NiE’s BRATs Young Journalist Programme will continue to be a platform for participants to hone and showcase their English language skills, as well as develop their journalistic interests and instincts. Follow our updates at facebook.com/niebrats. For Star-NiE enquiries, email [e-mail].