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Commissioned by Eastspring Investments, the Asia Money Parenting survey was conducted among 10,000 parents across 9 Asian countries to find out how parents across the region engage their children about money matters. It revealed 5 money parenting personas that differed based on: the extent of parents’ involvement, the importance parents placed on money parenting, and the level of the parents’ financial knowledge.
Balancers seek the right equilibrium between hard work and enjoying life. They believe that finding the right balance is key to happiness and success.
It’s all about Yin and Yang. Hard work and determination are important, but so is taking a break and enjoying life’s simple pleasures. They take nothing for granted and focus on important tasks but know when to take it easy and relax.
How they teach about money matters
Balancers want to achieve the right emphasis between teaching money management and letting their child learn and develop their own understanding of money themselves.
They believe that learning about money management is best achieved by actually doing, rather than just talking. Real life experience will yield faster and better results than lecturing.
However, Balancers also believe that it would not be right to simply let their child experiment freely, so they do provide ongoing guidance and comment. These are not strict or heavy-handed instructions, but rather light and consistent advice and direction.
They are not obsessed with teaching their children about finance because they believe that a successful, enjoyable life is a lot more than just making money. Balancers therefore place lower importance on financial planning than other parent personas.
Balancers are most likely to say, “Money parenting is important, but it’s just one aspect of parenthood. I want my child to understand that money has a specific role and place in the overall scheme of life”.
Balancers do spend a certain amount of ‘quality time’ to teach their child how to handle and manage money, but they also ensure not to overload their child. They impart knowledge at the child’s pace and feel it unnecessary to keep pushing them all the time.
Just over half of Balancers (56%) work with their spouse to teach money parenting; in 25% of other households, the mother leads, and in 15%, the father leads.
Their money parenting goals
Balancers encourage their child to invest their energy in other areas beyond money as well. Their children are therefore very familiar with experiences that mix learning and playing, such as education through fun activities and games.
The main financial goal is to provide for their child, and they do this through a savings account, the property they live in, Life Insurance policy, and investments for them in mutual funds, stocks and bonds.
Balancers are more likely than other parent personas to want their child to understand that money needs to be earned.
This is why despite giving their child pocket money they also encourage them to earn some money themselves by doing household chores or even taking part-time jobs.
In this way, over time, their child builds a comprehensive understanding of the value of money.
In doing so too, Balancers hope to teach their child the value of money, the cost of different items, and how to budget and save. If they can achieve these, they know their child is well prepared for the future.
Their money parenting success
Have Balancers achieved their goal? Most think that they have. In fact, all Balancers either think they have done a good job or are sure that they have; in contrast, only 49% of parents across Asia think the same.
% who think they have done a good job
It’s all about achieving the right balance of parental responsibility and their child’s personal learning. With this, all will work out well.
How well they know money
Although Balancers admit they lack financial knowledge, they do not feel that increasing their own knowledge is key to teaching their child greater money management skills.
Rather, Balancers worry about being overbearing or focusing too much on money parenting.
Because of their reluctance to place great emphasis on actively teaching money management, they are not as focused on finding new tools and techniques for teaching money parenting.
However, if you are a Balancer who is curious about how other parents are money parenting, check out our #MoneyParenting site or subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated with our latest content.