God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers' goes a well-known Jewish proverb. So aptly said! Mothers hold a special place in everyone's heart that no one can replace. She nurtured you, took care of you, taught you to take your first step and will be a life-long pillar of support.
And just as with everything else, she plays a very important role in the financial literacy of her children. Since financial literacy is still not taught in schools it becomes the duty of the parents to make their children understand the importance of finances right from their childhood days. And mothers play a very important role in teaching their children since they effectively spend the most time with them.
Like all mothers my mother too gave me gyaan which helped me take interest in finance and value money. Very simple, basic money mantras that are worth repeating even if you know them already:
1. She bought me a piggy bank as soon as I started school. She would give me pocket money from which I had to compulsorily put some money into the piggy bank. This instilled the habit of regular savings in me from my childhood days.
2. Money spent from my pocket money was to be accounted for to her. This instilled in me the basics of accounting and maintaining a cash flow statement.
3. She asked me to save 20 paise from every rupee earned. This taught me the importance of saving money no matter how small the amount.
4. She would buy expensive toys for me but make me understand its value and how she had saved for it and how I should be taking proper care of it. This helped me understand importance of sharing and caring.
5. She would juggle the budget of the house in such a way that it would never go overboard and instead helped the household save money. This she would teach me by showing me the budget that she prepared in a small diary that she kept. This instilled in me the importance of budgeting.
6. She would encourage me to save from my pocket money to buy gifts for my friends and family on their birthdays thus teaching me the importance to saving for my goals and the importance of self reliance.
Of course, later she would always reimburse the amount spent by me so that my piggy bank would never be empty.
7. As I grew up, she would insist that during my summer vacations I work for my father or do routine household chores for which they would then pay me for my work. This instilled in me the importance of hard work and a sense of responsibility towards my family.
8. When my piggy bank overflowed, she made me invest that money in an investment product which increased in value over a period of time. Thus elucidating the importance of saving and the astounding power of compounding.
9. She taught me the importance of saving from every month's budget and keeping it aside in a fund which could be used in case of emergencies or unplanned expenses such as the arrival of unexpected guests or more serious life events. This helped me understand why one must keep improving upon emergency funds.
These are the nine money mantras that my mother taught me and which, I believe, every mother should inculcate in her children, however wealthy the family.
Today, because of my mother, I can proudly say that the basic money mantras she taught me as a child have helped me while pursuing my profession as a financial planner.
Remember, education starts from home and who better to teach you than your own mother.
Maa tujhe salaam!
The author is a certified financial planner and can be reached at dhanplanner@rediffmail.com.
So what are the valuable life lessons you learned from your mom? The one mantra your mom taught you to live your life by? With Mother's Day just around the corner (Sunday, May 9), we're inviting you to share what you learned from your mom right here on the messageboard below!
