Al-Hayat

SOME education and sociology experts blame parents for not instilling the importance of saving money in their children’s minds. These experts believe that parents should explain to their children the difference between a current account and a savings account, and how to file a home finance application, etc.

Money is a sensitive issue to parents as many of them tend not to explain to their children how to build a household budget, how to distribute income, how to set aside money for vacations or for buying a new car, and other things like that.

Naturally, children will find it difficult to grasp some financial matters. However, we can explain these issues to our children using other methods. For example, parents could tell their children that they will buy them a bike, or send them abroad to learn a foreign language. Then they could explain to them that they need to save money for a year to do so.

Experts stress that children should realize that the purpose of saving is not to deprive one’s self of the things one desires. There should be some sort of balance. Parents can set short-term goals for children which would make children more patient and realize that saving SR10 a week could help them raise SR10,000 over two years.

One of the important lessons children should learn is never to borrow money. They should also understand that weekly expenses should never exceed one’s weekly allowance no matter what, even if they immensely desire something. Children should only buy according to how much money they have and realize that what they cannot afford today could become affordable after a year if they saved enough money.

Most Europeans spend wisely and teach their children how to do so from an early age. We should not wait until a child develops bad habits and then try to change or reverse those habits. It does not work like that.

As Saudis, we need to involve our children more in financial issues and make them participate in preparing our household budgets. If your son or daughter reaches 18 years of age and does not have any income of his or her own and still depends on you for an allowance, then you have not taught them anything about saving. As Saudis, we should join with the government and build a generation that knows how to save and generate money in a way that bolsters our economy.