Our First Money Workshop for Children – Some Key Lessons Learned

If compound interest is so good, why do we have simple interest?

If bankers know so much about money, they must be the richest in the world, right?

If you get more knowledgeable as you grow up, why don’t you get wiser with money?

Why don’t they teach us about saving and investing in schools?

If saving money is so important, why are you giving us balloons, which is a waste of money?

Well, these were just a few of the many questions that stumped us during the first session of our Camp Millionaire money workshop for children (click here to know more) in Bangalore last Saturday.

We had 32 children in the room, ranging from ages 8 to 15. It was heartening to see a few traveling all the way from far off places like Kerala, Chennai, Gurgaon, Sambalpur, Ichalkaranji, and Kuwait. For us, it was a fascinating experience especially because it was the first time we were handling kids and the subject of money together at one time.

Here’s one of the few testimonials we received for the session –

And here are a few of the many lessons, some obvious ones, we learned by the end of the session –

• Kids don’t trust strangers easily. I realized this when I extended my hand to shake theirs’ at the start of the session, most were quick to take their hands back. But by the end of the session, some were happy indulging in balloon fights with me. 😉 This mistrust of strangers is good when it comes to money, given the way so many of us adults have been taken for a ride when we followed the advice of complete strangers, without understanding their incentives.
• Kids are imaginative and creative, characteristics that often get killed by adults as they grow up.
• Kids don’t fear to ask questions because they know they don’t look dumb asking. Most of the mistakes we make in investing or our personal financial lives are because we shy away from asking questions. Questions like – Why this stock? Why this advice? What’s his incentive? Why am I being sold this advice?
• Kids don’t fear to get it wrong, and would rather smile and take lessons than feeling guilty when they realize they made a mistake. One kid, for instance, was fine selling an asset (a second home) to pay the premium for car insurance due to the lack of adequate savings in her bank account. When we explained her the pitfalls of selling an ‘asset’ to pay for an ‘expense’, she was amused about what she had originally thought about.
• Kids, who are involved in money talk at home, get money wise at a young age. One kid in the session, for instance, understood that a “want” is a “non-essential” (he used this term) and that he must be careful while spending on such things. My talk with his father after the session revealed how he had been discussing money and savings with his kids for the past few years.

Anyways, we now look forward to conducting similar money workshops for children pan-India over the next few months. And here’s how you can help.

If you want us to conduct Camp Millionaire in your city, please fill this small form to show us your interest.

This is an opportunity for your child(ren) to start with a great investment in themselves. And we would love to be their partners on this journey of becoming money wise early in their lives.

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P.S. After our money workshop for kids, we also conducted our Value Investing workshop in Bangalore for 50+ “grown up kids.” 🙂 This one too saw great participation, with people traveling from Chennai, Dharwad, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, and Kolkata.