Given the level of respect and reverence we have for money, it seems weird that making money and imparting entrepreneurial skills in their children are not on the radar of many parents. Before COVID-19, weekends saw tuition centres and enrichment centres packed to the brim as parents rushed to send their child from one lesson to another, hoping that he or she would develop skills and be a cut above the competition.
But what if you focus on enabling your child to have the resilience and resourcefulness to carve his path and forge his destiny in the first place? Given that job security is a thing of the past and retrenchments are a norm nowadays, giving your child some hands-on experience in running his business may be the responsible thing to do.
If my above words resonate with you, then "Kid Millionaire" is the book you might want to get your child to read this June holidays. It is useful for parents who belong to one of the below three profiles.
- For Parents who Want to Develop their Child's Strengths
This book is set in the American context, so Singaporean parents would be hard-pressed to let their children engage in lawn mowing, lemonade stands, and even dog walking because such opportunities aren't really available in the first place. Nevertheless, there are plenty of feasible ideas that your child can work on. Not only is there an useful chapter that expounds on how children can leverage the power of the Internet to build websites, create apps and blog , there are also easy-to-digest lists for the creative child and for the athletic child.
Nothing like a mountain of ideas to excite your child and get his brain juices flowing. What's particularly inspiring about this book is that it includes examples of actual kid millionaires, ranging from web designers and software designers to YouTube stars to chefs. Did you know that the youngest entrepreneur to get funding on Shark Tank was only six years old? Well, I didn't know this either until I read this book.
I also agree with how the book encourages children to identify what they are passionate about and make money from their passion. Of course, later on in life, your child may realise that what he is passionate about may not be synchronised with what he is good at and will have to pivot his career direction. But I think childhood is a time for big, lofty dreams, so spending time to pursue his passions is time invested in his character development because there's nothing like investing your blood, sweat and tears into something you love that makes you grow exponentially.
- For Parents who Want to Introduce their Child to Investing
You have conscientiously gotten your child hooked on saving. In fact, you signed him up for online financial workshops like those offered by POSB & National Library Board (https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/adventure-with-smiley-registration-152180719629). You have even gotten him acquainted with the nuts and bolts of CPF. But you are keen to whet your child's appetite in investing. How can you do so in child-friendly language?
This book comes to the rescue because it boasts a clear and simple explanation of all the asset classes and introduces them systematically from the low risk ones like government bonds to the medium risk ones like REITs to the high risk ones like stocks. It even prompts the child to "need your paretns or guardian to set up a custodial account to invest in some of these options" (pg 64). +1 for initiative.
What is also novel about this book is its Choose Your Own Stock Scenario. It presents the child with two stocks and four options and then explains how he should not be caught up with hot stocks but instead, embrace diversification. I love how it neither talks down to children nor panders to their level!
3. For Parents who are Budding Entrepreneurs
A good parent will model the way, so that's why I was ecstatic at the chance of being a Seedly Opinions writer. Hopefully, I will be a multi-millionaire content creator some day. The 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto principle) is not new to me but I saw a different version of this rule that applies specifically to social media. Here goes:
80% of the time you want to provide value and 20% of the time you want to be selling your product (pg 40).
Well, I will endeavour to provide value and sell my product at the same time.
If you are interested to set up a home-based business, here's an article that might help: https://blog.seedly.sg/home-based-business-guide/.
