Northland youth to gain from new financial education in schools

Young Northlanders will benefit from learning more about managing money, experts say.

Young Northlanders facing a “financial double whammy” will benefit from learning more about money to help their financial futures.

That’s what Northland financial advisers and principals think, following the Government’s announcement that financial education will be taught in New Zealand schools from next year.

Education Minister Erica Stanford announced on April 30 that year 1-10 students will be taught financial literacy as part of the curriculum to prepare students to make “informed financial decisions in a complex financial world”.

Financial adviser and parent Jason Vokes, from Wealthpoint North in Kerikeri, said young people were “fairly uneducated” in terms of financial matters.

Though they were brought up with the work-based retirement savings scheme KiwiSaver, which was positive, challenges they faced included “a lot more short-term debt”, he said.

“Young people are fairly uneducated in terms of finance, insurance, KiwiSaver, and how mortgages work, and how to plan to minimise the cost of a mortgage over a period of time.”

Northland financial adviser Jason Vokes said young people were 'fairly uneducated' in financial matters.

Vokes said while the financial landscape these days was “no different from when I was starting out” regarding low wages versus high cost of living, there was now more pressure to buy.

“There’s now financing cars and Afterpay... all those things that satisfy people in the first instance, but end up costing them a lot more.

“It’s no wonder people are getting into trouble.”

The new curriculum includes learning investment and finance skills, and how to spot a scam.

Younger students will learn how to identify needs versus wants, along with bank accounts, earning, spending, and saving.

Older students will learn topics such as budgeting, investment, interest, taxes, and insurance.

Vokes said the Government initiative was “a great idea”.

“At that stage, they can go over it quite simply ... borrowing money, compound interest, and saving for retirement.

“It gives them a good start and a familiarity with terms.”

Opua School principal Sandy Blackburn said financial literacy is 'already well taught'.

However, Opua School principal Sandy Blackburn said financial literacy in schools has “already been covered for many years”.

“I don’t see a lot of difference to what we’ve done already.

“It’s already well taught.

“In schools I’ve been involved with in the past, financial literacy has covered everything outlined, from budgeting and interest.”

Blackburn said what the Government has done is mandate financial literacy, as not all schools would have taught it.

“It does give clarity of what the expectation is.”

The policy announcement comes as new ASB research shows that despite tough economic circumstances, many New Zealanders aged 18-24 were building better money habits and taking action to improve their financial wellbeing.

ASB business transformation and customer engagement general manager Rosalyn Clarke said young Kiwis were “facing a financial double whammy, as high youth unemployment adds to cost of living pressures”.

Of the 57,000 customers aged 18-24 surveyed, 56% didn’t have at least $1000 of savings, and 60% rarely had enough money to cover their monthly bills, with 44% living paycheque to paycheque.

But Clarke said 43% had taken steps to “build better spending, savings, or credit habits in the past year”.

“By making changes such as reducing their overdraft, setting up regular savings, or getting KiwiSaver advice, we can see their financial wellbeing improves compared to those in their age group who don’t.”

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and animal welfare issues.