Children should be taught about money as early as any other life skill, says financial literacy expert Patrick Wameyo. Long before they understand numbers, kids are already absorbing financial behaviours.
From the moment a child is sent to the shop or watches a parent talk about money, they begin forming impressions about it. Wameyo explains that children learn not only from what parents say but also from what they do, how they spend, save, invest, and handle financial challenges.
“Your children will be influenced by how you talk about money. If you make it sound impossible to earn, they internalise that,” he notes.
Age 0-6 years
For younger children who cannot yet grasp numbers, he says that money is not numbers but choices. Teaching a child that spending means giving up one option for another builds early financial awareness. He advises giving small exercises, such as offering a child a shopping list and asking them to stick to it, to introduce discipline and boundaries.
Patrick encourages giving pocket money early in life because it provides structure and builds a budgeting habit that sticks. He recommends attaching a purpose to pocket money. A portion can be allocated to saving, another to spending, and perhaps a small amount to giving.
“Visiting the bank together, using a piggy bank and doubling a child’s savings as encouragement reinforces the lesson,” he says.
He notes that parents make early mistakes by failing to model good financial behaviour, such as going to the supermarket without a list, never discussing savings, and shielding children entirely from financial decisions, which denies them learning opportunities.
Primary School Years (7–12)
By the time children are in this age group, he believes they can understand far more than most adults assume.
“Children understand investment if you expose them early. They understand concepts when you engage them,” he says.
Children should earn pocket money through chores and receive it unconditionally, as receiving money teaches stewardship; earning extra money through tasks teaches effort and income.
“The lesson from washing a car to earn money is understanding the work behind the reward,” he says.
He encourages parents to teach budgeting, for instance, by asking a child to list the things that need to be bought. Having conversations about money and aligning financial choices like spending, saving, investing, and emergency money is helpful.
Early Teens (13–15)
As children enter adolescence, financial conversations around peer pressure should also be addressed. He says that when children’s financial values are strengthened early on, they are less likely to experience peer pressure. Peer pressure becomes problematic when it conflicts with established financial values.
“Children start looking outward around eight, and by 12, they are learning strongly from others. That is when family values must be reinforced,” he says.
He discourages unrestricted access to digital spending and suggests reminding them of the financial values.
Late Teens (16–18)
By late adolescence, young people must understand what he calls the four pillars of money: earning, saving, spending, investing, and borrowing.
“Responsible borrowing is borrowing for something important. Introducing debt and interest early, in controlled ways, builds maturity,” he says.
When it comes to investing, he suggests parents demonstrate the value. After 12, he says, children prefer learning through being engaged, like taking them to an investment class, showing them real transactions, and gradually allowing independence.
As they grow older, they can venture into side hustles of producing something like homemade juice to expose them to the business side of money.
“They learn that some activities are more profitable than others. That is a valuable lesson,” he says.
