FINANCIAL LITERACY

I have always talked about how our educational system is not doing enough to prepare the young ones for the world. A lot of our parents think somewhat mediocre especially when it comes to making decisions in this current age and it is mainly because they do not know much about the things that really matter, sorry to say. They were never thought of and because of that they do not know. I had a very serious argument with my parents regarding my finances and how I do not send as much as I used to, but no matter how I try to explain they never understood. Although I did all the shouting in my head because I did not want to sound rebellious, at least not to give my siblings the assumption that they can be when they are right and have a point to prove. I just decided to allow time will tell if I am wrong as I have always done in the past. The only issue is that I hate fighting with them as I feel pain whenever it happens. But then again, I understand that I am doing enough and won’t do more than I am meant to.

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The issue was that I started investing in stocks last year because it was one of the major goals I set for myself. But it came at a cost as I needed to reduce a lot of spending and thus I reduced a lot of my expenses including how much I send home monthly. My mum became concerned and told my dad to talk to me which felt strange because we hardly talked. I explained to him that I was investing in stocks and he said I was talking nonsense. Well I didn’t blame him, but checking my stocks and seeing how far I have gone, it has strengthened my resolve to do more. But then again, I wish I knew then the things I know now, I wonder how far I would have gone. Imagine learning how to trade stocks in school when my brain was still fresh with very little to worry about. Now imagine just 1,000,0000 kids learning to trade stocks from age 13 in Nigeria, how much do you think the Nigerian stock market will be worth by now? How much do you think those 1,000,000 students would have affected the nation's economy?

I believe in raising future leaders today, if there is something I have come to understand is that we can not grow more than what we know, the economy can only grow when what the average man knows is enough to make them better. The first time I learned about trading and cryptocurrency and told my mum as a 14 year old teenager, she said it was the devil's wealth and I should desist from it. I was really keen on investing in bitcoin then, but I believed my mum and now see how it is. I am pretty sure if she had thought and knew it’s important then, she would not have tried to discourage me, and if I had been taught the right way to go about things then I would have taken advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself. Well it’s too late to regret, so all I can do is make sure that my kids are trained to not just be english literates but also financial literates.

THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE LEARNER'S PROMPT FOR WEEK 202 EPISODE 1