Teenagers warned about piggy banks

Philip Robinson, Senior Wealth Manager at Mardon Financial Advisers Ltd and an Education Champion with the Personal Finance Society’s My Personal Finance Skills programme, has warned piggy banks can cause some youngsters to blindly put cash aside and that these ceramic savings pots fail to engage them in ensuring they have enough money for their needs plus a nest egg to buy them what they want.

On the My Personal Finance Skills website, which was created to deliver financial education to the nation’s teenagers when Covid-19 prevented financial advisers from entering schools to deliver educational sessions, Mr Robinson urges teenagers to instead of blindly putting any small change they have left over into their piggy bank to ask themselves the following questions:

1. Why should I save money? Establish a purpose for you to save money as that will motivate you to set more cash aside.
2. Where do I spend money? Knowing where you spend money is crucial if you are to create a budget for what you need to spend. If you are unable to account for what you spent last week then you are spending money on impulse.

Mr Robinson said: “By giving me a piggy bank, my grandparents were hoping to encourage me to develop the habit of being thrifty with my money. Instead my piggy bank was like a golden egg in my mind. When I had not opened my piggy bank for some time, I imagined there was going to be this large pot of money there but, in reality, there never was.

“Smash that imaginary piggy bank and you can start to think differently. Budget for how much money you need for essentials and then work out how much you can put aside for another day.  I promise you that your future self will thank you for it.”

In support of Financial Planning Week, which runs from 5 to 11 October and aims to raise the profile of the profession and its standards, Keith Richards, chief executive of the Personal Finance Society, encouraged more financial advisers to follow Mr Robinson’s lead and sign-up to become Education Ambassadors of the professional body’s My Personal Finance Skills initiative.

The pro-bono initiative delivers free financial education to the nation’s teenagers and, during Covid-19, has delivered education sessions via platforms of the school’s choice such as MS Teams and Zoom.

Schools have also encouraged pupils to look at the My Personal Financial Skills website, where financial advisers have shared their tips on what teenagers can do today to improve their long-term financial security.

Mr Richards said: “The theme of this year’s Financial Planning Week is Live your Today – Plan your tomorrow. Financial advisers who give up their time to educate the nation’s teenagers today will help create better financial educated adults for tomorrow.

“I urge all financial advisers to join the hundreds of members of the profession who have already committed to sharing their knowledge and delivering financial education workshops to schools and colleges across the UK.”

Click here for more student money tips: https://mypersonalfinanceskills.org/student-money-blog/ and click here to find out how to become an education ambassador: https://www.thepfs.org/about-us/initiatives/my-personal-finance-skills/