Pleasant greetings to you all.
When talking about financial literacy, I believe it refers to a person's ability to manage money either through saving, budgeting and even being financially debt free.
I admire those who were privileged to have gotten a grasp of this early on in life. I was a sheltered child and as such, my parents didn't allow me to bother about things pertaining to finances.
My dad was more than just a provider, he was also my genie in a lamp. I was pampered and spoiled by him. As long as I wanted anything, I would get it. All was fine since he held a top position in a large organization but things took a downward curve when he retired from his organization having fulfilled the number of years obligated to him as stipulated by the organization.
He was paid a huge gratuity, which he and my mom invested into transportation business and restaurant business. I remember that I was in SSS1 when this happened. The good thing was that the money was invested but the bad news was that the investment fell into the wrong hands and soon the transportation business folded up, leaving only the restaurant business standing.
My mom was a hustler. She did her best to make the restaurant stay afloat for years and even when I assisted her in the business, I was still not financially literate as I had no money of my own.
Even when relatives give me money, my mom would collect it and tell me that she's keeping it for me. Then at Christmas time, I would be told that the money was used to but my fancy clothes, shoes and accessories. I never bothered with asking about it because I always had whatever I needed provided.
My introduction into financial literacy was in senior class in school but even then, it was all theoretical. I did not put to practice what I learnt because I felt I had no need for it, not until disaster struck.
I was in my early twenties when I began to understand financial literacy. This happened after my mom's passing and all the financial responsibility of the family rested on my young shoulders. I was already working then but even at that, I did not save, brother did I practice budgeting.
It was a colleague back then who made me realize the importance of savings because he noticed that I would usually complain of being broke when the month was just half gone. He encouraged me to join other colleagues who were doing contribution (a mini cooperative).
I listened to his advice and began keeping aside a little money for the contribution. Before long, I could boast of having a few thousand naira in my bank account. That was eye opening for me.
Not long after, the desire to overcome the financial pressure from home led me into seeking out other sources of income. I then began to sell recharge cards at my place of work. Things looked promising as I was the only one selling recharge cards there. I did this for years until other vendors began to spring up.
So far, on my financial literacy journey, I have understood the power of savings, good budgeting and financial planning even to the point of having multiple streams of income. Even though I caught this late, I'm glad to have grasped it well.
If I had grasped financial literacy earlier, probably I wouldn't have faced some financial pressures and if I did, I would have been able to handle it well.
With this in view, I believe that teaching kids early on about financial literacy will do them much good. Personally, I have already begun teaching my daughter not to eat with all her ten fingers. She is in her early teens but she already has a good savings culture. I'm so proud of her. I am not letting history repeat itself with my child, hence I support early introduction of financial literacy to kids.
Don't just teach them about money, teach them how to make money work and grow.
Thank you all for reading. This is my entry to the #hivelearners weekly edition #167 e2.
Images are mine.
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