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While the world is asking if we will soon become a cashless society, we are seeing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Dash and Ethereum rise rapidly.
In fact, there are now well over 1000 altcoins and more being created every day.
In order to educate and prepare our children to manage any type of currency, we need to be teaching them about digital cash options now. In the not too distant future, we will be paying for less things with physical cash, so trying to educate kids about making wise financial decisions using piggy banks and envelopes won’t be enough.
With the cost of living going up every year and the average family debt rising with it, it’s absolutely essential to do more to educate the next generation on how to effectively manage the money they make. What use is it teaching kids how to make money through work and careers, if they then just pay it all out on car finance, credit card debt and constant outgoings, forever? This then takes it from working for money and freedom into working to pay off bills. Not fun!
Spark their interest
Giving the gift of knowledge to children about successfully managing money is one of the best things we can do for their futures. How to educate children on investment and money management in an understandable and interesting way?
Savvy businesses minds have already been developing apps and software to provide kids with a fun way to learn about the new age of digital currencies and other important financial matters. Here’s three for example:
- Bankaroo – This simulates features you would normally find on online banking to familiarize kids with standard transactions such as allowance spending, budgeting and saving
- Greenstreets Unleash the Loot – This free app is a game that teaches kids about money management and being ecologically responsible. Kids complete the game by rescuing animals from the Greenstreets. To fund the animal saving, kids must complete tasks including planting trees and gardens, building eco-treehouses and recycling trash. Once the animals are rescued, children are in charge of finding a way to pay for the animal’s care, completing more tasks to do this. This TWA certified app is an excellent way to teach kids about budgeting, spending wisely and giving.
- Busykid app – a revolutionary app where kids can earn an allowance through customizable chores, then learn how to save, spend, budget and even how to make investments wisely.
Then there are the cryptocurrencies specifically aimed for kids such as Piggycoin. Where kids can play educational games and earn “piggys” to spend in the piggycoin shop.
Some elder children have already progressed onto buying bitcoins with their pocket money and it seems like many young kids are grasping cryptocurrencies better than adults as their minds have only known technology. Just listen to how this 12-year-old spends his bitcoin pocket money and where he spends it!
The future of kids and Bitcoin
More and more places are accepting bitcoin as a form of payment and it won’t be long before others follow, within the next decade, I imagine it will be easier to write a list of places that don’t accept Bitcoin. Even some schools have started accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment for tuition fees.
Cryptocurrencies are not going anywhere and initiatives like the above are a great way to start introducing children to modern finance. 2018 looks set to be promising with the release of several new altcoins and educational/fun apps aimed for families and children on cryptocurrency.
When children see how they can take some responsibility over their earned pocket money with these apps, and how they can benefit from investing their money, it becomes an exciting prospect for them and ingrains the thought patterns of the most beneficial things to do with money when it comes in and ways to make it grow.
All thanks to Blockchain technology and cryptography, the next generation is growing up in a totally different era. As an experienced trading software development company, we are seeing more and more software projects using blockchain to enhance various industries, not just finance..
Care to predict how long it will take before we see the end of using physical piggy banks, or will we see more of physical Bitcoins?
Share your views in the comments!
