At Mackenzie Financial Planning, we’ve launched a new initiative to take money management sessions into Bury primary schools  – to gear children up for a healthy financial future.

We kicked off our “Cash Savvy Kids” campaign at St Andrew’s Primary School in Ramsbottom – and had a fantastic time.

We’re passionate about the importance of instilling good financial habits in children from a young age – with good reason. As the number of young people in debt in the UK continues to rise, as many as 80 per cent of primary school teachers believe that financial education should be on the school curriculum, according to new research from Prudential, while 69 per cent said parents should get more support in helping teach their children about money.(source:MoneyObserver.com).

Financial literacy forms part of the citizenship programme in key stage 3 and 4, however there is currently no formal money management curriculum for the under 11’S.

Yet this is coming far too late.

Good financial habits are learnt early and it’s essential to get children comfortable with the concept of money – and it’s value – as young as possible.

We’re living in a time of digital technology and virtual wallets and most children rarely handle real cash. We are all used to being able to obtain whatever we want, instantly, at the touch of a button.

However, we’re seeing that when young people are going to university or buying their first home, they have no idea how to manage their money in the real world. We’re are hoping that by teaching the basics at an early age, we can go some way to preventing this.

During today’s session we focused on two key areas:

The children’s future goals and aspirations – and how they can work towards them through financial planning.

How to make they can make their money work harder for them.

The interactive session was certainly fun-packed, with lots of activities designed to make the children really think about what they want from their lives. Wish-lists included running a business, having a house with a swimming pool, going to university – and even owning a unicorn!

Children were then each given £100 and we talked them through the implications of saving it in a piggy bank, putting it in a savings account – or spending it. Each child was given a piggy bank to take home, to help them start saving.

We’re delighted to be delivering the sessions in to schools across Bury. It was great to kick off the sessions at St Andrew’s Primary School – the children really engaged with the activities and we hope we have gone some way in helping them start the path to a bright financial future.

To find out more about either the sessions or our services, please contact us on 0161 763 1950.