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www.teachwire.net | 35 Know a great personal finance teacher? Nominate them for this year’s Moneywise Personal Finance Teacher of the Year Awards. Winners will receive a share of a £24,000 cash prize pot from Interactive Investor for their school. The awards are open to all qualified UK primary and secondary teachers. Email nominations to editor@moneywise.co.uk before 3rd September 2020. The first 250 teachers to nominate themselves will receive a £50 Amazon voucher. moneywise.co.uk/ personal-finance- teacher-of-the- year-awards GREAT SAVINGS RACE BY: AGNELO MENDONÇA, BUSINESS TEACHER, LOXFORD SCHOOL, LONDON MONEY SKILLS: INVESTING, SAVING This challenge can help children focus on savings and develop good money habits. When your child receives income, such as birthday money, encourage them to split it into the following: • 50% into long-term savings • 30% into short-term savings • 20% for an immediate treat Long-term savings can be held in a savings account or Junior Isa. You and your child can monitor their savings' progress as time goes on. Short-term savings are for items they would like, but need to put money away for. The remainder can be used to buy something right away. Encouraging your child to split their income helps them understand the difference between short-term and long-term savings. Add top-ups or additional rewards to your child’s income if they hit a particular savings target in a set period of time. BARE NECESSITIES CHALLENGE MONEY SKILLS: MONEY MANAGEMENT, SAVING Ask your child to write a list of your family’s regular costs, including bills, commuting, food, toiletries, cinema tickets, etc. Review the list and work out what you’re still spending on (bills, food and insurance, for example) and what you’re no longer buying (food from cafes, theatre or cinema tickets). Discuss whether or not you miss those expenses and how much you are saving. This can help children to understand the difference between essential and non-essential spending. F EATURES F I NANC I AL EDUCAT I ON Pocket money challenge BY: HELENWESTWOOD, FINANCIAL STUDIES TEACHER, CAROLINE CHISHOLM SCHOOL, NORTHAMPTON MONEY SKILLS: BUDGETING, SAVING Teaching children the importance of having an effective budget can help them develop good money habits as they grow up. Creating a budget for pocket money is a fun and interactive way to learn money management. Encourage your child to set financial targets – for example, saving for a new bike – and work toward these goals by setting money aside. To help incentivise saving, offer to pay top-ups when your child hits certain milestones. For example, if they save £20, you may wish to add an extra £10 on top as a reward for saving. This helps develop an understanding of how saving works and the benefits of putting money away. Get creative and use colouring pencils, crayons and other stationery to bring the budget to life.