Educating Young People with Good Money Habits
Robert Stringer and Ed Evans of Stringer Mann Chartered Financial Planners recently completed a series of free, fun and engaging financial education workshops for Year 9 students at Berkhamsted School, to help them build brighter financial futures.
Aimed at children aged 13-14, the workshops called ‘Your Future’ took place during February 2023, and were interactive, fun, high-energy and engaging, incorporating strategic game play and discussion-based learning. The young people learnt about risk and reward, saving, banking, budgeting, borrowing, lending and more. All within a fun and competitive environment.
Financial Education is a crucial area of learning which has a heavy impact on the future wellbeing of our young people; it is a life-long journey, defined by our aspirations, expectations and knowledge.
Robert Stringer, Partner of the Berkhamsted-based firm and founder of Hector’s House, a suicide prevention and mental health awareness charity for young people, said, ‘It’s reported that 96% of British teenagers worry about money daily1. And we know now that money habits can begin to form in children as young as 72, so the younger we start educating them the better – not only for their financial futures but for their mental health as well.
‘In the UK today, reportedly 39% of adults don’t feel confident managing their money and over 80% are not comfortable discussing their finances, even with close family and friends3. It makes sense therefore, that having conversations about money will build children’s confidence on the subject and helps to develop their long term financial skills. Yet over 5.3 million children go without proper financial education3.
‘The team at Stringer Mann is committed to supporting and improving the financial wellbeing of our clients, our young people, and our community. We believe economic independence is an enabler of choice, giving people the confidence, knowledge and opportunity to make better decisions that positively affect their future.’
- Of the 181 students who attended the workshops, 90% would recommend the sessions to other students, and
- 94% said that it had improved their confidence in managing money well on a day-to-day basis.
‘We recognise the role that effective financial education can play in overall wellbeing and feel that these sessions have been a valuable addition to our personal development curriculum this year,’ said Sarah Gledhill, Head of Sociology & Head of Personal Development.
‘Students responded very positively to Robert and Ed’s expertise, and we look forward to offering similar workshops to other year groups in the future.’
If you would like to find out more about resources for your primary and secondary school or college, please contact alison.page@sjpp.co.uk.
1 The Centre for Financial Capability report, 2022, Website-Briefing.pdf (tcfc.org.uk)
2 2 MAS (2013), Press Release, Adult Money Habits Are Set by the Age of Seven Years Old, Available at: www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/corporate/adult-money-habits-are-set-by-the-age-of-seven-years-old-shows-new-study
3 MaPS, 2020, UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing available at UK-Strategy-for-Financial-Wellbeing-2020-2030-Money-and-Pensions-Service.pdf (moneyandpensionsservice.org.uk)