Coming of Age

Shan's comment: So as the song goes, "Money money money, must be funny, in a rich man's world!" in this world, there are poor and there are rich people. But how do we learn about money? And how do some people manage and acquire much more than others? Does your childhood and teenage experiences with your own money shape your future wealth? Or can we, as most teens tend to do, put the blame on our parentals and say our attitude to money comes from the way in which our parents deal with money?


In preparation for this week's article, I asked a few people I know (ranging from 15-21 years old) about their early experiences with money and how that's made them deal with it as they're getting older. One of them told me how her parents had introduced her to credit cards at 14, giving her her own credit card that linked up to her parents' one, and telling her she could use it whenever she was out shopping, at the cinema etc. At 19 years old, she's now got no real money of her own as she's never felt the need for a job because of this everlasting credit fund she's still got. Which brings me onto the next bit - do you know what you are really carrying in your purse/wallet?


Now, because of all the different currencies and banks in the world, I can't outline every type of card/money situation you'll run into, but what I can talk about is saving money as that is universal! In the UK, once you hit 18 you are sent a letter by the government talking about putting money away for when your retired - bit extreme? Maybe, maybe not. Open up a savings account at your local bank, a good one that's geared towards young people and/or students (i.e. high interest rate - for example, here in the UK we have an ISA account which is a tax-free, high interest account). When I got this letter, it got me thinking about saving money, the future and how stable my financial situation could be if I just put a little bit away every month. Have I bee doing that consistently? No. Do I regret that? Hell yes. A year later, if I had been putting money away I'd be able to pay off my car insurance and summer holiday like that! But instead I've had to scrimp and anxiously find money out of nowhere. What I'm trying to say is, prepare for the future because you never know what will happen. To have a fund available to you in times of crisis or emergency will be invaluable.


So aside from the sciencey stuff, how much of ourselves do we now determine through our wealth? Does being the richest kid in your class make you feel good? Or does being the poorest kid in your street make you feel lie an outsider? In today's society, it seems that money = power and appreciation, doesn't it? You walk into class with the newest trainers, the most recent Ipod and the latest Nokia phone and you're the coolest kid in town. But this is seriously not healthy, like I mentioned earlier, learning that this type of lifestyle and what it appears to bring won't teach you good values and skills with money as you get older, as all you'll be doing is attaching happiness to money and money to power. A great article I read while researching for this came from Oprah Winfrey's website, written by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, and it's actually aimed at adults and how to teach us kids good money skills, but reading it I was like 'Wow, that makes so much sense'. Give it a read and see how many of the things he suggests to do with money you actually are doing (and age is no excuse!)


If you take nothing else from this article, just have a think about how you see money. It might not mean anything to you now, but changing your perception of wealth and money itself may give you a lifeline later on in life


PS. We have an amazing money man here in the UK called Martin Lewis who I think is definitely worth checking out for all money-matters, here's his website: www.MoneySavingExpert.com

AGE: What's the deal?