Elias’ Pizza Financial Plan
Another good thing that came out of the Good Progress Award was that we can finally get the boys to practice financial planning with their own hard-earned money. We believe in teaching the children early in their lives, to give back to people who have given to them, i.e. God, their grandparents (who took care of them when they were younger, and who are still taking care of them occasionally), and their parents.
Now that Elias has “earned” some money – we told him that he has to give 10% each to God, Ah Mah/Ah Gong and Daddy/Mummy. He also has to save 20% of it. He may then spend the rest of the 50%, but he needs to seek permission from mummy (Oh, what a controlling mum I am!).
We had earlier asked Elias whether he would like to use part of the money to treat us to a pizza meal, and he said yes. Even after I told him about how much he had to give and save, he agreed to continue with the pizza treat.
We had our pizza today. We invited Elias to “do us the honour of saying grace”, we thanked God for Elias who is treating us to the pizza, and at the end of the meal we all said in unison “Thank you Elias”. It was great fun, and Elias was very happy.
When he finally gets his money in 2012, we will claim the money back from him. We can very well give him the whole sum of money and paid for the celebration from our pockets, but that would have robbed Elias of the joy of giving.
It is a blessing to give, not only because of the joy which sharing brings us.
It is a blessing to give because only someone capable of creating value will have something to give. Elias has created value, through which we had an delicious meal. We are proud of him, and we want to make sure that he is proud of himself too. Having the whole family enjoy the pizza meal together makes the fruits of his labour that much more tangible. ~ Elisa
