First observations on teaching #FinLit to children in Hong Kong
After being laid off from my full-time job in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis back in March 2020, I had been looking to invest my time and skills in a meaningful endeavour whilst searching for my next full-time opportunity (I have luckily managed to land a job and even switch roles since, owing to a supportive network that looked out for me). Looking for inspiration, I set out taking various courses and reading lots of books.
Reading Jeffrey Archer’s classic Kane & Abel, I was in awe of how William Kane had a sharp financial acumen at a very early age. Inspired by the character, I thought to myself — what if children were trained to be financially savvy?
And so, I launched Know Your Wealth — a series of Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship courses for children. I believe this education is important for children not only so they cultivate good money habits, but also because the lessons learnt are valuable in terms of character development.
Looking back at my experiences of teaching children aged 7–16 across different ethnicities from both, local and international schools over the last one and a half years in my home city of Hong Kong, here are some key realisations I’ve had about this demographic; not only about the way they learn, but also of the values and beliefs that the younger generation of this culture embody.
- Hong Kong children are grounded, but also underexposed
The collectivist Asian mentality is long-term focused and needs-based. This results in younglings adopting a worldview that is mature for their age; they have a strong sense of their needs vs their wants and keep in mind their families and other people around them when reflecting or making a decision. The most common answer I received when asking children what they would use their pocket money to save up for in the initial lessons of the course would be along the lines of “I want to keep saving my money so I can collect a large amount to buy a house for my family when I’m older.”
While this answer characterises the inherent values of being good Asian children, it represents a hindrance in regards to children being able to get a sound financial education — the key to children learning how to make good financial decisions is facing age-appropriate financial dilemmas and knowing how to take good calls on them.
The same Asian mentality that imparts level-headed core values also enforces conservatism; children are given a sense of their future financial responsibilities but are not spoken to on how they can take appropriate steps to eventually get there. Concepts like spending within means, saving, and budgeting are stressed but matters essential to making money grow such as investing and borrowing are not touched upon.
Children have been underexposed to financial management so far, and understandably adopt a conservative approach; when making decisions during simulation activities in class, they tend to play it very safe, which is a good approach to start with, but it keeps them conservative. Even with play money, they allocate most of it to their savings bank saying “I’ll just put it in my wallet/bank to save for a rainy day.” It is not uncommon to see some students opt for saving 100% of their money during the simulation activities. Though this attitude is indeed healthy at a young age and keeps children anchored, it can considerably impact their appetite to undertake healthy risks in the future. - The tangibility factor of money needs to be redefined in this digital age
With the advent of digital wallets and payment systems, money is losing its essence. It’s easy to lose track of our money as it is not physically tangible anymore.
A large part of the world is headed towards becoming cashless. It is easy for adults to lose track of their spending amid economies going cashless — the tangibility factor that characterised money (in terms of both, spending, and gaining rewards) in the past is starting to fade with digital payment systems, stored value facilities, credit and debit cards becoming more widely accepted day by day. Money is rather increasingly becoming a marker of debt.
Hence, the approach towards how children are taught about money needs to change. The need for this change is evident as a common answer I received from younger children when asked if they use their pocket money to spend on basic necessities like transport, stationary, or snacks was “Oh I just use my Octopus (Hong Kong’s stored-value facility card) for that.” - Children are keen to make a difference and are grasping the right concept of charity
The principles of social entrepreneurship and charity are key to holistic financial management in today’s needful world. Part of Know Your Wealth’s curriculum focuses on using entrepreneurial skills and resources to meet the UN’s SDGs. Emphasis is also placed on the fact that money cannot solve all of the world’s problems — rather sharing and effective management of actual resources are essential.
It was heartening to see that children are keen to put their resources and entrepreneurial skills towards helping others and achieving universal goals such as tackling climate change, famine, Covid-19, and beyond. What is remarkable is that they did not need much encouragement or convincing in doing so.
Hong Kong children have a knack for social entrepreneurship and optimising resources, including their networks, and have no trouble getting creative and thinking out of the box. This would be the impact of collective efforts of schools and government initiatives that support out-of-classroom learning to allow children to adapt to the world around them that is continuously evolving.
Children in this part of the world are grasping the right concept of charity. The misconception that charity only involves donating money is slowing down. Children are well aware that it is the resources our donated money goes towards which deliver actual impact, and have no trouble understanding that the money we share sometimes can be abused if donated to unverified organisations.
Both, local and international schools in Hong Kong seem to be doing well on setting forth the importance of social entrepreneurship and sharing resources in a smart manner.
Just like all other things in life, an individual’s approach towards handling money is influenced by factors that they are exposed to in their childhood — be it culture, traditions, family, school, or the wider society. Hong Kong kids are on the right track with correct guidance from gatekeepers. However, there needs to be a more active effort towards giving them a more realistic and contemporary approach towards managing their finances, in terms of healthy risk-taking and also keeping in view fast-evolving financial technology.
