Financial education should start at 7 years old: Mas

Andy Briscoe, who became chairman of the Money Advice Service (Mas) in September 2013, said it was imperative to have "cradle to grave" financial education.

Speaking at the launch of Financial Capability Week, in co-ordination with the Financial Capability Board, Mr Briscoe said having a better-informed consumer would benefit financial advisers and the whole industry.

He commented: "Financial capability will not just help IFAs but the whole of financial services. The more capable and informed people are, the more they will seek out advice and appropriate products, and the more they will engage with financial services.

"The whole industry stands to benefit as not only are individuals more engaged but there will be times when a member of the public will need expert financial advice, and having a more educated client can only be a good thing."

Mr Briscoe added it was vital to get the money management message across to children as young as seven.

He added: "If you can teach children about managing money and instilling the right attitudes to money, then they will carry this learning for the rest of their life."

If the myths can be busted at an early age and good disciplines instilled, there is every hope these good behaviours will be carried through adult life. Rob McCurrich

The Mas event at the Bank of England museum, which was held in association with Young Enterprise, aimed to highlight to educators and the financial industry the importance of inculcating financial know-how among young people.

Over the next few months, Mas is implementing several initiatives to improve financial education among young people, including a project to give parents tools to teach their children about budgeting and money.

Earlier this year, Mas launched a £7m fund to gain a better understanding of which projects and interventions work best to help people make the most of their money.

According to Mr Briscoe, Mas received more than 400 expressions of interest for funding and it is aiming for projects to commence by January 2017.

Financial adviser Rob McCurrich, head of investment and pensions at Roxburgh Financial Management, said it was important to speak with clients and get them on-board with educating their children about money matters.

He told FTAdviser as part of a Guide to Investing for Children: "Explain to clients how they can show their children the effects of what they are doing to build up funds on their children's behalf.

"If the myths can be busted at an early age and good disciplines instilled, there is every hope these good behaviours will be carried through adult life."

Mr Briscoe's comments came as research from Mas, carried out for Financial Capability Week, revealed that only four in 10 young people in the UK say they have received any form of financial education.

But 90 per cent of those who had received financial education lessons said they found them useful. 

According to Mas, the lack of suitable financial education means young people are ill equipped to manage their own money into adulthood.

The research also showed that among 16 to 17 year olds, 32 per cent said they did not have experience of putting money into a bank account, 39 per cent said they did not have a current account at all and 59 per cent could not read a pay slip.

Speaking at the launch of Financial Capability Week, Suella Fernandes, MP for Fareham and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education, said: “There is more to do to improve the delivery of financial education, which remains inconsistent and varying in effectiveness.

"It’s essential that we provide appropriate training and resources for teachers to enable them to deliver these crucial lessons.

"“A collaborative approach is absolutely vital in tackling this issue – we must encourage educators, policy makers and other organisations to work together to deliver effective financial education to our children."

Russell Winnard, head of educator-facing programme and services at Young Enterprise, said: "Collaboration between organisations is absolutely vital to ensure young people receive high quality financial education.

"By sharing information on effective approaches, the way in which financial education is delivered can change for the better. The Financial Education Quality Mark is an accreditation awarded to teaching resources that are accurate, engaging and of the highest standard, to allow educators to identify the best financial education materials."

Young Enterprise has launched a revised version of the Quality Mark which will support providers in evaluating how effective their resources are and share their findings with others."