The next generation: What type of investors will they become?
The attitudes and behaviours of future investors are cultivated during childhood. To gain a better understanding of the financial needs and early experiences of young people, we interviewed 120 children between the ages of eight and 15 to find out what Singapore’s children feel is important, and to get an insight into how their parents’ attitudes impact them.
Singapore’s children are actively engaged with their money with 75% keeping their cash in a bank account.
Singapore’s children ‘earn’ about S$24.77 per week, the bulk of which, at 84%, is through pocket money. Some 63% of the children have received money as a gift and 11% said they have a job or are paid for doing chores.
For 24% of children, a statement in the post is one of the primary ways they check how much money they have saved while 16% use online banking, 11% mobile banking and 33% are still counting their cash.
Money management starts at home
About 84% of Singaporean children surveyed believe that not only is saving good but that it is also the right thing to do.
According to the parents of the children surveyed, the top two reasons they make their children hold onto their cash are to save for their education and to teach them money management skills.
And it would seem that it is a lesson that is getting through, as asked why their parents were making them save, 68% said the main reason was to learn how to manage money, although 49% said that saving enabled them to buy small treats.
This level of awareness is encouraging and is likely to have been helped by the fact that half of children reported that they learn about money management at school.
Improving the planet
Asked what they or their parents can do to protect the planet, 39% of children said recycling was key, followed by saving water, at 28%, reducing the amount of plastic used at 22%, re-using things at 9% and not eating meat which was noted by 2%. Asked what they can do to make the world a better place, 47% said being kind to one another and accepting everyone for who they are is the most important thing. For 32% of kids, recycling plastic and glass to help keep the world clean should be the top priority. For 14%, giving money to charity is important, while 7% see caring for animals as the main goal.