Question:
As a parent, I would like to pick your brain on your ways of educating children on managing their finances mindfully. I would also appreciate any parenting tips you could share, especially since you mentioned in the TWS podcast that your children want to emulate your parenting style, which is respectable.
Answer from our CEO, Christopher Tan:
Thank you so much for joining this AMA and for your questions!
Since every child is different, what worked for my children may not work for yours. I will just share what we did, and if you find it useful, that’s great; otherwise, feel free to disregard these ideas.
Here Are Some of the Things We Did:
- Pocket Money: We provided just enough pocket money for school—never too much. As Christians, we taught them to give a portion of their allowances to the church.
- Part-Time Work: I cannot remember the exact age, but my kids were definitely in secondary school when they started doing part-time work. My daughter is now studying in Melbourne and is also working part-time. My children are accustomed to the idea of earning their own money through work.
- Budgeting: I taught my children simple budgeting techniques. This is the same technique I shared with one of the participants (fagatron12) of the AMA.
- Parents’ Allowance: Since my kids were in school, I have already taught them that they need to take care of their parents when they age. I told them that they need to give us an allowance. I also told them how much they should give. It would be a fixed amount from the start, and even when they earn more, this amount will not change. This is their way of tangibly showing love. My son has started working, and he has been giving us a fixed allowance monthly.
- Transportation: My son is a national athlete. While studying at NTU, he had to travel frequently for training. He wanted to buy a motorbike, and after two hours of discussion, I decided to let him make the decision himself. I told him we would be worried if he rode a bike. Some friends suggested we should have bought him a car, but we disagreed, feeling that a student shouldn’t drive a car simply because his parents could afford it. Similarly, my daughter decided to buy a bicycle to commute to her workplace from her apartment. Well-meaning friends told us we should have bought her a car as cars in Australia are very affordable. But we did not for the same reason above. This is probably the most controversial decision we have taken. But we do not want our children to have material possessions the easy way.
- Prudence: We have always taught our kids to be prudent, understanding that money doesn’t come easily. If they wanted more money than their allowances, they had to work for it.
- Involvement in Chores: We stopped having a helper when my kids were in upper primary school. From a young age, they learned to do simple chores, including ironing their clothes. They still iron their own clothes till today.
- Tuition or Enrichment Classes: As parents, we never pressured our kids in their education journey. We did not insist on tuition or enrichment classes; we offered them if needed or wanted. When they didn’t perform well academically, we encouraged them rather than pressured them. My daughter is completing her degree in a few months, and I still don’t know her GPA. I only told her to give her best and progress to the next level. All we wanted was for our children to try their best in life.
- Principles: One of the many principles I taught my children—
- The world judges you based on what you have or don’t have. So, go out there and get what you need so that the world will listen to you and you can be an influence.
- Never judge others based on their possessions, as this is wrong.
- Do not allow the world to judge you based on what you have or do not have, because your possessions do not determine your identity.
Thank you!
Our CEO and Founder, Chris, noticed interest and questions on the SingaporeFI subreddit for some time and had the opportunity to conduct an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session in October 2023. The above question was selected from the list of many questions that were asked.
If you are interested in viewing the full Reddit list of questions, you can visit this link.
Christopher Tan, is Chief Executive Officer of Providend Ltd, Southeast Asia’s first fee-only comprehensive wealth advisory firm and author of the book “Money Wisdom: Simple Truths for Financial Wellness“. He is also a Certified Ikigai Tribe Coach.
For more related resources, check out:
1. Be Financially Woke Ft. The Work Salaryman
2. 3 Areas To Help Your Youth Ease Into Adulthood More Successfully
3. Father’s Day Reflections: Planning My Daughter’s Financial Future
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