CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As people put the gift-giving holidays behind them, many families use the new year as a reset, with many taking the opportunity to start new habits like saving more money.
A local financial expert talked to WCNC Charlotte anchor and reporter Jane Monreal about showing children good financial practices during this time, especially with many having been gifted money during the holidays.
Pawan Murthy, CMO for the family digital wallet platform, Rego, explained how it's never too early for parents to teach financial literacy.
"There's a research by Purdue University that says kids establish their financial habits by age 7. And they're watching their parents on how they spend and save," Murthy said.
The parent to two teenagers himself, Murthy said financial literacy can be broken down into two components.
"What is a checking account? What is a savings [account]? What's an interest rate? What's a credit score? A lot of it is taught in school." Murthy said. "We think that what's missing is the experiential aspect of it. That is the actual actus the earning the money, and then doing something with it."
He offered three tips that parents can impart to their children.
"The first tip is that there is a great feeling that kids have when they earn money, and then do something with it. And so we feel that it's a great time to find either a relative or a friend that you want to buy a present for, but then have work done around the house," Murthy said, "Or maybe they sell something that they don't need anymore, earn that money actually spend it themselves. And if you use an app that we have called Mazoola, it allows you to actually manage how you spend and earn that money to the chores that you do, and and then spend that money on that person. Or maybe it's a charity that you want to give to this a great feeling that kids have when they can actually be a part of that financial transaction."
The second tip, Murthy said, is mostly for parents since influencers are pushing multiple products on social media.
"Now, parents would need to be extra careful on how they how their kids spend money," Murthy said. "I have friends whose kids had been burned. They would send money, and either nothing would happen, or they would get something it was nothing like what they were advertised. So just being extra careful on what that is, and, and having a family digital wallet app allows kids to limit allows parents to limit where their kids spend their money, and also how much."
Murthy's third tip is to teach kids how to invest in the stock market.
"The kid can watch their investment grow and shrink and hopefully, they can get excited about making money while they're sleeping," Murthy said.
Murthy said Rego's app, Mazoola, can help families manage how kids earn money, and where it's spent, as well as placing safeguards like limiting their children's spending, so parents don't get a surprise charge on their credit card.