The strength or ability to learn, understand, and manage personal finances is known as financial literacy.
While growing up as a child, I learned how to sell through one of my aunts. She has a supermarket, and she always wanted me around just to help her attend to her countless customers. She has always handled huge amounts of money under my care.
Managing her business alone is enough to learn so many things related to business ideas. Also, learning how to keep my Aunt's money safely without thinking of squandering the money is enough to speak about finances.
I had known how to manage people's finances when I was still 10 years old. She gives me money at the end of the month, sometimes every day. The shop is some distance away from my home. So, she gave me a transportation fee, both to and from. I always trek instead of taking a tricycle (Keke) just to save the transportation money. Doing this made me save a lot.
One day, she saw me trekking when she was coming from her abode. I never thought she was still at home. She shouted at me so seriously. “Why did you trek? Don't you know that the distance from your house to the shop is very far?”
I lied just to save some ideas. I told her I first went to a friend's house to collect her notebook, which was not far from her shop.
That was a big lie I had told, but just to save me some good reasons. I tell you today that during my stay with my Aunt, I had saved a lot of money, which no one could believe.
One day, I had decided not to trek along the road any longer. I was trekking along streets, which I guessed was the fastest route. So, this was able to save me from telling lies to my Aunt all the time.
One good day, when I was done with my secondary school, I wrote 'Jamb,' which would take me to university without telling my parents. When they found out that I took the Jamb, they asked where I got the money from. I told them how I was saving the transportation money my Aunt had been giving to me. They shouted after hearing the amount I had saved.
I went straight to my Aunt and thanked her after seeing my Jamb results. I thanked her for always giving me transportation money to and from. I told her how I had once lied to her about trekking instead of taking a Keke. She hugged me and prayed for me.
So, financial literacy should be granted to our children immediately they know the value of money. I had started training my daughter, and she has learned a lot related to the value of money.
When she's back from school, she will come to the shop with her books and sell with me. She now knows the values of each item I have in the shop. She's also started selling when I'm not around. Most of the time when they are on holiday, I relax at home while she sells in the shop. She knows how to take good care of money to the last level and even knows how to attend to customers even more than me. My customers are always testifying to her talents.
So, the best time to know about financial literacy is the time when the child knows how to take care of money. My daughter was 9 when she started selling for me, and I am happy with that fact.