Financial lessons from Mickey Mouse anyone?

It made me think back to the time when my son was in nursery and I was somewhat alarmed to see the worksheets he was busy colouring in were all emblazoned with the logo of Lloyds TSB. Indeed it may surprise you to know that a lot of the financial education our children receive in school is paid for by the banks and insurance companies.

Before I sound like too much of a Luddite, I should say that I believe that producing a nation of financially sound young adults is absolutely vital to our collective well-being as a nation. I just can’t help that it sticks my throat that financial institutions have such a big hand in it.

But then I am enough of a pragmatist to realise that if they don’t fund it, no one will.

Which brings me back to Disney’s The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. It too is sponsored by a financial services company -

T. Rowe Price. The marketing blurb says it features “a series of entertaining games that bring to life and teach key financial themes of setting goals, saving and spending smartly, staying ahead of inflation, and diversifying your investments”.Actually by the sound of things it could teach a lot of accompanying parents a thing or two as well. How many of adults do you know who could reel off the pros and cons of inflation?

Which I guess is my point. Yes it is very important that financial education is now finally being embedded into the curriculum taught to our children at school and yes it might be quite fun to test their knowledge against a big pink pig at a theme park, but we as parents have to take lead responsibility for turning our children into financially responsible adults.

I’ll share what I do in the coming weeks – but do let me know what works (and what hasn’t) with you.