Roy Thompson, head of financial services at Carpenter Box Financial Adviser, decided to deliver sessions to students in the hope of boosting financial literacy.
He spoke to year eight and year nine students at St Catherine’s College, emphasising the value of a basic understanding of finance, the benefits of saving and the value of strategies for building a solid financial future.
According to Thompson, the students actively participated in the sessions and asked questions about mortgages, the size of deposits needed to buy a house and how best to save for the future.
Students were also curious to find out more about complex topics such as cryptocurrencies.
Thompson said: “The big message I wanted to get across was that finance is not just about managing money, but about securing a better future.
“For young people, this probably seems like something they don’t need to worry about for a long way into the future, but I hope they left the sessions understanding that financial stability comes from consistent, informed actions over time, not from sudden windfalls.”
This comes after Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com founder, said there was a “real poverty” of financial education in the UK, earlier this year.
Providing oral evidence as a witness to the education committee Lewis highlighted there needed to be a joined up approach across society to provide young people with financial education when they are “professionals at learning”, which is when they’re in school.
He said at the time: “The amount of resources the government has put into funding financial education has been flaccid and to a detrimental level.
“Financial education needs to be somewhere in the curriculum at the moment. It's too wishy-washy. We have to find a way to make sure every school is teaching it.”
alina.khan@ft.com
