Edfundo Suggests How Kids' Financial Literacy Can Be A Fun-filled Festive Activity
Money Matters’ Are A Big Contender For The New Year’s Resolution List
Shop in ‘Needs vs Wants’ mode
Initiate a ‘Family Savings Challenge’
Dubai UAE, December 15 2021
The co-founders of Edfundo, the soon-to-launch first smart money management app for kids and teens designed by teachers, are urging parents to use the turn of 2022 to put the financial literacy of their offspring at the top of their New Year’s resolutions lists.
Andrew Toward, Edfundo COO, says that with many teens likely to be in funds, thanks to monetary gifts from family and friends and from the newly-announced part-time work visa in the UAE, the New Year is great for parents to weigh in and help them spend wisely and put down some good money habits.
“Financial literacy among our young is a rare commodity,” says Andrew. “It’s a persistent oversight from our parental and educational legacy norms. Yet it’s one of the greatest tools people can have in their life navigation success kit. It’s important because it helps us all make better informed decisions about how we spend, save, and manage our money. It makes us aware of the need to budget, manage personal debt, save, and invest for our own homes, our future families, and our retirement!”
The Edfundo co-founding duo – Simon Wing, the CEO is the other half of the life-changing app – contend that financial literacy among kids and teens is now more important than ever because technology has brought in the digital era where innovations, global e-commerce connectivity and other major trends have given rise to a digital economy that youngsters need to know how to navigate.
“As parents we can’t risk our children being left behind in the digital economy or they will run into trouble and when it comes, it doesn’t only mean financial trouble – it can also lead to mental health difficulties with worry leading to lost sleep, leading to poor eating habits, depression and increasing isolation. And yet it needn’t be that way if we just embrace the need for financial literacy and seek out help. It’s time we as parents, and our kids, become smarter money decision-makers,” said Simon.
Edfundo says parents can start educating their children about money, by turning learning into fun with engaging activities.
“As teachers we know that ‘doing’ is the best way of learning,” counsels Andrew. “The ability to budget for necessities is a key component of financial literacy. There’s a need for children to understand the difference between ‘want’ and ‘need’ when it comes to spending. So, for instance, as parents’ shop with their kids, whether physical instore or online, they can ask them if their purchase is essential, ask whether they wouldn’t rather save the money for something else, and if they could find it cheaper elsewhere.”
Andrew also suggests parents may wish to launch a New Year’s ‘Family Savings Challenge.’ “This would require everyone to be candid about how much they spend weekly or monthly and if they can reduce their spend.”
The Edfundo duo say that parents serious about developing the financial literacy of their kids may need help and point out that by logging on to www.edfundo.com and signing up for the Waitlist they will soon get more tips on narrowing the financial literacy gap among kids and perhaps learn a thing or two themselves.
“Parents logging on to our website will join over 1,000 people who have already signed up to our wait list and help us test our Edfundo app which will go live launch during Q1. They will be joining a community of like-minded people who have concerns about their kids’ money management skills!” said Simon.
The Edfundo app is a quick and super secure app with a simple yet powerful dashboard to track spending and saving which will get kids and teens au fait with the digital economy. It allows parents to set tasks or chores for their children to boost their earnings, encourage them to save for something special by creating saving goals and use Edfundo to pay in-store or online with a pre-paid debit card, phone and watch using Apple Pay TM or Google Pay TM.
Parents can top up their child's card in one click, set spending rules, see exactly what their children spend and where and receive real time notifications of their spend and instantly block or unblock cards at any time.
“If parents are serious about having a happy and prosperous New Year, they can join the Edfundo.com community now,” added Simon. “It could be the best decision parents make in 2021 for 2022 and beyond!”
Game On!
If you’re a parent wanting to educate your children about money, and turn learning into fun with engaging activities, here’s two suggestions:
1. Shop in ‘Needs vs Wants’ mode.
The ability to budget for necessities is a key component of financial literacy. There’s a need for children to understand the difference between ‘want’ and ‘need’ when it comes to spending. As you shop together – physical instore or online - ask your kids:
“Is this essential?”
“Wouldn’t you rather save the money for something else?”
“OK it’s essential, but is it cheaper somewhere else?”
2. Initiate a ‘Family Savings Challenge’.
This requires everyone to be candid about how much they spend weekly or monthly and if they can reduce their spending. The one who saves the most wins but in reality, everyone’s a winner because they have actually examined their spending habits and realized where savings can be made.
END