Financial literacy

[FindingMeno]

If you are financially literate/ successful, where and how did you learn?
How can a non financially literate person steer their children towards a better path?
Interested in others input and experiences.

For me, it was just part of growing up.
I wouldn't say I am financially "successful" (although everything is relative) but I am certainly financially "literate".

Parents (and their parents before them) never got into debt, they all had mortgages but everything else was saved up for and only bought when the money was there.
I always saved (even when at school in the 70's I haf a little PT job and put half my wages away) so when I left school and got my first FT job I had enough to get a car without getting into debt. This then meant that I could immediately start saving for my next car (or other significant expense).
Starting with no debt/borrowing at this stage was to make a MASSIVE difference as I got older.

I remember at college there was a module that ran through basic finance which just reinforced all my parents had taught me. Some of it was REALLY basic (how to open a bank account, how credit worked etc) but it showed how (even in the early 80's), these things were still an enigma to some people.

My parents never had credit, everything was either saved up for or just not bought.
When they got a credit card it was for convenience and the "credit" facility was never used, instead the bill was paid off in full at the end of each and every month.
I started doing this when I got a card and stayed with it ever since, have never carried a balance across to the next month.

My parents also impressed on us the need to start a pension as soon as we could. Not many 18-year olds were very interested but I did it and it has paid dividends (letting me finish work in my 50's).

My parents also encouraged us to get a mortgage rather than spending money on rent.
While friends were moving into rented flats for "freedom", I stayed at home and after a couple of years of saving hard I could afford (just) to buy my first (rather manky) house and start on the property ladder. It was a horrible, run-down house in a scruffy area but it was "mine" and with help from M&D we turned it into a tidy little palace while in the process, taught me lots about DIY and decorating.

Interesting.
I do wonder about whether the absolute crux of it is having financially literate parents who are happy to talk about money.

I would say it has a lot to do with that.

Children pick up on conversations and if credit/debt is talked about a lot, it is going to be an accepted thing. Likewise, if parents are talking about pensions and/or savings then that is going to be picked up as well.

This sort of thing was talked about quite openly at my work.
In our office we were all on the same grade/salary but things like pensions, overtime, mortgages, PB's etc were openly discussed by most and quite often it meant colleagues sharing tips and generally helping each other.
For instance, one day tax codes were being talked about and it transpired that most of us were eligible for a change that meant we saved (a small amount) of money.
Pensions were another favourite, by openly discussing them a few people increased their contribution a little which meant the company increased their contribution a lot, a benefit they would otherwise have missed.

Hmmm, so if you are not from that background, how do you break into that knowledge for your own children?

Martin Lewis did a book with a charity designed to be circulated to all secondary schools, and I think Deborah Meaden has done one for primaries - I haven’t read either but they might be a good place to start. The Martin Lewis one is available as a pdf or you can buy it on Amazon.

with my dc I opened them a current account and savings account with debit card and app and pocket money going in so I could teach them about banking. They get £5 a week and the odd bonus for doing housework. Dd2 is good at moving her money from the current account to the savings account because I explained about different interest rates. She checks her balance most days as well on her phone.

They now have accounts with Amazon and deliveroo and so I have tried to teach them about buying online and scams. Dd1 was really upset because she accidentally subscribed to amazon prime for two months so now both dds are good at reading small print.

They both have sipp pensions and I’ve taught them about compound interest. This is more because they have adhd and autism. One spends all her money so couldn’t be trusted to not waste savings when she’s 18.

A good starting point OP would be the Money Helper website (used to be called the Money Advice website). Lots of great information on there very simply laid out and explained.

Once you have your head around that you can get lots of tips and tricks to reducing outgoings, increasing income, budgeting, savings, investments etc etc on the Money Saving Expert website. This is more detailed and harder to access imo so I'd start with MoneyHelper. Get your head around the basics and then you can look at MSE for more detail.

My parents were very open about money as they had a lot compared to their upbringings and so were very conscious about it. Even pocket money was talked about quite seriously when I was young! I remember when I had started secondary school I had to present a budget of what money I felt would be reasonable a month, bearing in mind I would be responsible for all my clothes (apart from school uniform), train fares into town, CDs I might want to buy, etc.

Admittedly probably the best education came about from hearing them complain about my spendthrift Dsis, which gave me a good list of things not to do...

But my mum especially was just interested in money, and I'm good with numbers, so we talked about it quite a bit. A joy of bargain hunting probably helped, but instead of hunting bargains in shops we tend to be exchange messages about savings rates. She's much less risk adverse than I am, and thinks I should have more invested in stocks and shares, but I also have a lot less money than her. She put me onto money saving expert.

I would consider myself very financially literate but it's different from being good at maths I'd say. I got a job in banking which helped but not directly linked to 'consumer finance'. Over the years I've just taught myself. About 5 years ago I realised I knew naff all about pensions. So taught myself everything there is to know about pensions. And now I'm on a decent path to retirement I think. I wouldn't have been if I carried on as I was.

This is all really good stuff, thank you.
I forget that what is at our dc's fingertips is the Internet.

I should add my parents taught me bugger all! I carved my own path through personal finance at uni, travelling etc so I don't think it necessarily has to come from home but I'm sure it would help. My parents were quite tight with money anyway so I had a budgeting instinct naturally.

What a great question.
I've learned all the details from things like Martin Lewis, the Internet generally, here and Reddit.
But I've always been good with money even before I understood how ISAs worked or whatever.
I think that is definitely an upbringing/family culture thing. I always remember my mum saying things like Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
We were told quite openly when eg we couldn't do things because they were too expensive, which gave me a clear sense of how to be responsible and the fact that money is about choices.
We never tried to keep up with the Jonses so I didn't absorb any sense of that.
I also understood from what was said when we did get to do nice things that it was because my family had worked hard and saved up for them.
I was encouraged to save up for things that I wanted and praised for doing so.

I've always known that if I got into an overdraft, debt etc, it would absolutely break my mum's heart - so I never did!

My parents were on a low income and they did well with managing the small amount of money that came in - we were always well-fed and clothed, and always had spare cash for the essentials or an emergency. I don't remember them teaching me about it explicitly but I suppose I must have overheard conversations about budgeting etc. I've never had issues with accumulating savings, budgeting or delayed gratification. That's always seemed like common sense to me and I've never needed to be taught it.

However, they didn't know much about financial literacy at the other end of the spectrum - pensions, investments, tax efficiency etc. I'm on a much higher income than they were and I've had to learn all of that myself. I've learned mostly from websites like MSE, Monevator, Reddit and general reading like HMRC website, plus a few books. This stuff is a bit more complex as it's not something you could work out logically, but I've been quite keen to learn the rules so I can optimise them for my situation. I would say all of the information is out there and free so no reason why anyone couldn't access it.

I would say that generally I'm fairly financially literate. I have our finances worked out to the penny every month, have long term savings and investment plans etc. I know a lot about the debt/default/debt collection side of things as I work in a bank in this area.

I'm also the person that people in mine and dh's family come and see when they need any help with something vaguely financial/benefit/money related. So I've sorted out a big SA mess for BIL, did a full budget and self managed debt repayment plan for MIL etc.

It's self learned through an awful lot of reading...voluntarily, I just find anything money related interesting. And some bad mistakes I made to age 25 which I learned an awful lot from.

Dh finds anything money related boring and tedious so I have full control of our finances, including insurance, energy tariffs etc which suits me perfectly 😁

I think one of the best things is not spoiling children. Getting them to save up for toys as a child. I don't mean birthday gifts or Christmas. I know plenty of parents that buy children gifts regularly. I've just never been a fan of that as I believe waiting for gifts is a good lesson.

I was brought up in a literate household but do have debt so I think it's more than that.
I do have a good pension though and started at 20, bought a flat alone at 21 so it isn't all bad!

My journey:
Probably not very financially savvy parents, didn't discuss finances openly
Left home / uni / 1st job etc.
Progression from Money Saving Expert, through worrying about savings account interest rates to Premium Bonds, then Meaningful Money and reading different books around personal finances
Now pretty clued up about most things, and confident to find out about other things if they arise