Some fascinating academic research has been released about childrens attitude to money and how they gain financial skills.  Their core findings are that a child’s attitude to money is embedded by the age of 7, and this attitude will be largely maintained throughout their adult life.  The full report is detailed and can be found here.  They look at ways in which good money practise can be taught, which we summarise below.

The question they ask is: what can parents, caregivers and teachers do to encourage positive habits of self-regulation in children and support their financial understanding?

Younger children participate in practices alongside adults; when they first receive pocket money, its by the encouragement of the parent, or possibly grandparent.  It is at this early stage that influences over the child’s attitude to money need to start.    Children learn from observation, instruction and practice, so all 3 experiences will help strengthen the message.

Typically, by the age of four to five, children will understand that they need to pay for things but may not understand that coins have different values.  By five to six years, they will know that some money will not be enough to buy some items.  Only at around age 7 will they understand that money can be exchanged for goods, and that ‘change’ may be returned.

‘Saving’ can be encouraged by tangible activities such as a savings chart, where the child has a target number of coins to achieve, and fills in the coins as they are ‘saved’.  Studies have shown that children enjoy participating in adult-like behaviour, where encouraging the child to exercise conscious control over their decisions can prove to be very successful.

The key conclusion is that teaching young children explicit forms of ‘financial’ knowledge is not likely to have much impact on shaping or changing their behaviour.  What is important are the basic approaches and skills, which are modelled, discussed and demonstrated by parents and other significant adults.  These skills become the ways in which efficient habits and practices become instilled.  Self regulation is the aim, where the benefits and tools of sharing, saving and buying are understood and applied. Influencing childrens attitude to money is a key task for parents and care givers from an early age.

Google has been studying its own management team, and together with customer satisfaction surveys, has come up with the 10 top attributes of a good boss.  How do these compare to your notion of what makes a good manager?

1. A good coach: one who helps employees through problems and uses them as valuable learning points.
2. Empowers the team, rather than micromanaging, by letting you use your skills instead of trying to do everything for you, or watch over your every move.
3. Creates an inclusive team environment, where people are encouraged to introduce new ideas, and success and well-being are encouraged.
4. Productive and results focussed: a good boss helps out when necessary, and ensures the team know what their group and individual goals are.
5. A good communicator – this is both sharing information to the team, and good at listening too.
6. Supports career development, including discussing performance.  This is best achieved using feedback to help the employee work towards their goals.
7. Has a clear strategy for the team:  so the individuals in the team know what is expected of them, and what you need to do to get there.
8. Has technical skills needed to advise the team.  Your boss should at least have an understanding of the tasks they are asking the team to undertake. 
9. Collaborates across the organisation, by having good relationships with other members of the organisation outside of the immediate team.
10. Is a strong decision maker, able to take informed decisions rather than constantly prevaricating or avoiding decisions.

As an employee, how does your boss score against these factors?  And if you are a boss, can you honestly claim all 10?  And what would your employees rate you as?

We are also interested in what other attributes you think makes a good boss – tell us over on our Facebook page here. 

In the week that saw a lottery win of £170 million, a survey also revealed that for a large part of the population, buying a lottery ticket is their only form of pension planning.  Auto-enrolment has to a large extent changed things as workers now save through company schemes, but we’ve uncovered a few statistics which make for potentially worrying reading if you’re hoping for a happy retirement.

The average amount sitting in pension pots is £61,897.  This will generate a yearly income of about £2,500.  Add this to a full state pension and it doesn’t match the minimum wage. 

One in 8 of all pension pots are over £250,000, which is the minimum most people are going to need.  On average, we are not saving enough to create this size of pot anyway.  Last year, the average amount paid into a pension was £2,700.  Over a 30 year working lifetime, this will create £81,000, nowhere near the amount required. 

Accessing your pension pot is relatively easy, and 25% can be taken out as a tax-free lump sum, which is obviously very attractive.  But is this the best option?  The rules are complex, and taking out a lump now may not always be the best option for you in the longer term.  48% of pension plans in 2018 were accessed without any financial advice.  It is a bit of a minefield, and there are many sources of help and advice – perhaps the best starting point is the Pensions Advisory Service, a free and impartial government service. 

After a lifetime of work, making sure you are able to afford a decent retirement is an important consideration – but one which we don’t tend to think about until it may be too late.   On average, a male will live another 18.6 years after hitting 65, and a female another 20.9 years.  Pension planning really should be about more than buying a lottery ticket. 

As teabags go plastic-free and bio-degradable – we look at the benefits of a business going green.  And next week we look at the disadvantages…

Making Cost Savings

Reduce your energy usage and you will not only save money but reduce the demand for fossil fuels thereby helping reduce carbon emissions.  Convert to a paperless office will save money on paper, printing and document storage.  Whilst it may not be too relevant for businesses in our area, employees who use their own cycle for business travel are entitled to 20p per mile – much less than the equivalent cost of an employee using their own car.

Tax Advantages

There are Government tax schemes to encourage your business to be more environmentally friendly.  The 3 main types of business who benefit most are:

• Those that use a lot of energy
• Small businesses that don’t use a lot of energy and
• Where you purchase energy-efficient technology.

Government advice is here, but don’t hesitate to contact us for more information on how you can save money.

Building your Brand

Many customers prefer to do business with environmentally aware companies.  If you do go green (or greener), then it is important to let your customers know, through your website and social media.

Leading the Way

By taking the initiative and becoming greener, you will be putting pressure on your competitors to also demonstrate their own approaches to sustainability.  If you are perceived as a leader, then you are able to differentiate yourself from your competition.

Green Work Environment

A green workplace will be a more healthy workplace.  If this also means a reduction in days off sick, you will be able to achieve productivity gains.  A healthier staff group is more likely to be productive, energetic and innovative.

The Feel Good Factor

Hardly a day goes by now without dire warnings about the future of the environment.  It’s not just down to individuals to do their bit, small business also needs to contribute to saving the planet.

Is your business green?  Tell us about the initiatives you have introduced and we’ll happily share them…

In 2018, the Royal Mint didn’t make any new copper coins – 1p and 2p’s, as apparently there are enough in circulation.  The government announced a review into copper coins in 2018, but this was quickly withdrawn and assurances given that we’d still have copper in our purses and pockets.  It makes us ask the question – what is the future of cash?

There are an increasing number of ways that we can pay for things, with contactless payments, mobile apps and digital currencies all gaining in popularity.  Biometrics are expected to be the next new way to pay. 

This all means that we are moving towards a cashless society.  Already, 1 in 10 in the UK are effectively cashless – and its higher amongst younger people, with one in six 25-34 year olds being cashless.  7 in every 10 people now use contactless, with East Anglia topping the regions.  Being cashless means paying for only 1 thing with cash in a month, or none. 

What does this mean for business?  There are 5 main areas where this will impact on SMEs:

• There will be less cash on the premises, so reduced risk of burglary and theft
• Payments will be easier, not just with a swipe of a card but possibly even just the use of a fingerprint
• Quicker payments should lead to greater efficiency, as less time is taken finding change
• It will be more environmentally friendly
• SMEs will need to keep up to speed with new developments as consumers keep searching for easier ways to pay

But there are downsides, with elderly and more vulnerable people most at risk, as well as people living in rural areas such as our own.  Banks are already talking of closing free to use ATM cash machines, and nearly 3,000 bank branches have closed in the past 4 years. 

We won’t see the withdrawal of real money for some time, but the trend is clear – the future of cash is not looking that rosy.