by Mr Kwan, Principal of the Financial Education Academy (Regular Courses)

Someone once said, “Raising children in poverty may be the best form of education.”

However, born in an era of extreme material abundance, most parents have already become prosperous. On one hand, it is difficult to make today’s children understand the concept of “contentment,” and even harder to return to days of poverty to rekindle their “will” to understand how to live. But at the very least, parents should examine:

Is their own concept of money correct? Has it been influencing the next generation?

Don’t let children live in the same carefree way as adults.

Many times, the author observes a common phenomenon in life, where whatever adults do, children naturally follow suit. Indeed, parents always provide the best quality of life for their children, good food… good housing… good things… as if they have closed the gap of life between the two generations, creating an illusion where both generations share the same way of life as a matter of course. For example, can a five or six-year-old child have bubble tea with their parents? Do you see the issue here?

Have you noticed that many times parents (the world) inadvertently accelerate their children’s growth pace, and many education and psychology experts tell us that providing too much in life for children actually hinders their healthy development. Therefore, the author suggests that besides eating together at the same table and living under the same roof, parents should not actively push their children to the same level of living standards in life, aligning everything with the parents, because children lack financial capability, emotional maturity, complete development, and understanding capacity, among other factors.

So, the next time a child says to their parents, “You all have iPhones, I want one too,” I suggest that parents clearly tell the child, “There should be some distance between us in terms of lifestyle.” Especially when adults possess certain material possessions, let the child understand that our ways of life are not entirely the same. On the other hand, parents should explain the differences between us based on the diligence of adults in studying, being able to earn money in the future to support themselves and their families, and being able to use their savings to buy what they want. Take this opportunity to help the child understand how important it is to grow by oneself, and parents should impart a lesson to the child: start teaching them how to manage money, plan for the future, encourage them to enhance their life skills, find their own direction for striving, and not settle too early.

Parents should remember an important principle: “Love and cherish children without indulging them,” leaving room for children to grow, cultivating their ability to possess “good things” on their own, while teaching children about boundaries in life and gradually learning contentment, naturally understanding how to live for themselves.