Financial literacy is the ability to manage the ability to effectively manage one’s finances, not only for day-to-day needs but also to achieve long-term financial goals. Although this is one very essential life skills that an individual should ‘possess’, the truth of the matter is that many Malaysians are having difficulty being in charge of their money.
Here are some statistics that might surprise you:
- 3 in 10 Malaysian working adults need to borrow money to buy essential goods.
- 52% of Malaysians have difficulty raising RM1,000 as emergency funds.
- Although 76% of Malaysians have a budget, two-fifths of them struggle to stick to it.
- Only 24% of Malaysians can survive without their main source of income for at least 3 months (10% can sustain for more than 6 months).
Sources include FCI Survey 2018, AFBES 2018, ACM 2018.
Looking at these worrying numbers, it only makes sense to educate our children on financial literacy at an early age so that they can make informed decisions in the future. Unfortunately, the importance of financial literacy is not that emphasised in our education system, hence it is now up to us, the grownups to impart this knowledge to our children. To know what kinds of money lessons you can practice with your little ones at home, you can read the article below.
Seeing many young adults making poor money decisions because they were not given the opportunity to learn personal finance skills, FinLearn co-founders would like to change this current state by making learning about money, budgeting, investing and saving more fun. FinLearn.org is a social enterprise dedicated to promoting financial literacy among students.
The FinLearn curriculum was designed by an expert Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and it follows the Five-Step Personal Finance Framework, which teaches students how to value money, earn money, manage, invest, and protect their money. To further consolidate the syllabus, the Career Readiness Framework by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) was used as a reference point in the development of this curriculum. Through FinLearn, children could also learn about how to start and manage a thriving business.
FinLearn also has its own board game called CA$HFLOW! New in the block, this game requires players to manage their money and invest in assets like stocks, bonds, real estate, and businesses. Each player is assigned a career with varying monthly salaries and expenses, to begin with, and during the course of this game, players have to be smart in strategising their future plans and be prepared for what luck may have in store for them. To be a winner, players must be able to quit their jobs and only rely on the passive income from their investment to sustain their livelihood.
The thing about CA$HFLOW is that it somewhat reflects the choices that your children will be making in the future. The difference is that any monetary losses in this game would not affect their life. Via CA$HFLOW, you can take note and discuss with your children about the choices they made to manage their finances and what is the possible consequences of their action. This way, your children would be more open to asking you question on how to control their money
Interested to play the game? You can get your CA$HFLOW board game here!
