Financial Challenges

Many young Australians are continually facing more and more financial challenges and hurdles as they enter adulthood.  Many are trying to save to buy their first home, travel the world, buy their first car, paying off their HECS debt, or all of the above.

As parents there are few little things that you can do to help teach your children about finances, which will go a long way for them in the future.  One of the most important is to teach your children how to do a budget or how best to save their money.

It can even be a worthwhile exercise including your children when it comes time to doing the family budget, this way they’ll learn that nothing comes for free and the things that they enjoy (such as their flashy smart phone) costs money, even if it’s paid for by the bank of mum and dad.

When you give your children their pocket money a good exercise can be to sit down with them and see if there’s something they wish to buy or spend their money on.  Once this has been determined you can then help them set a goal and savings plan. Teaching this at a young age can help them become disciplined with their money and set them up for the future when they need to save for the bigger things (such as their first home).

When it comes time to buying their first car or home they’ll most likely need to borrow money to help them (especially in the case of the home), so it’s worthwhile teaching them about debt and how it works. It may sound silly but introducing them to how debt works will help them understand that when the time comes they’re not just going to be given free money, but they’ll have an obligation to pay that money back plus interest.  You’re older children may understand this but the younger ones may not quite grasp this.

At JBS we have wide range of services to help clients achieve financial freedom. For the younger clients we have a Cash Coach program to help with savings and budgeting and a Retire Right program which is tailored towards our older clients to help with the transition from working life. These services help our clients overcome their biggest financial challenges and achieve their goals.  We even offer services to our clients children to help them on their journey.

– Peter Folk –