Financial literacy is a crucial life skill for the youths in our modern society today. At one point or the other, even the youths will eventually need to take charge of their own financial future. Hence, they will need to know how to budget and make wise financial decisions for their daily life.

Most people don’t bother learning about financial topics until they are well into their adult life. Which means they probably have spent decades with poor financial habits that are difficult to unlearn. And without a solid foundation of financial literacy, many young people are more likely to fall into the same common financial pitfalls that are otherwise easy to avoid.

However, there are easy ways to get young people thinking about money early in life which is both beneficial and easy for them to understand. One key area that could be helpful is learning about budgeting and saving. Teaching budgeting in schools or homes would be simple and easy to integrate. Understanding areas like these at a young age will help young people especially students to prepare to go off to university and beyond.

Learning about financial matters empowers the youth because it’s one of the ways to lead a stable and meaningful life in the real world. If teenagers and youths in school today begin to possess a good knowledge of financial literacy at their level, they can begin to understand investments, interest rates, loans, savings, or budgeting in the real life. Therefore, they should be taught early that money is a valuable resource in order for them to avoid unnecessary spending habit in life. As this will also help them to understand the value of money, how to invest, save meaningfully and avoid debt.

Finally, financial education for youths in homes and in schools can make a huge difference in our society today and also enable our youths to accomplish financial independence early in life.

The bible is an incredibly useful source of guidance on personal finance matters. There are quite a number of stories and sayings from the Bible, written thousands of years ago that illustrates basic financial concepts that are as relevant as ever in the modern world.

Take a look below at some relevant financial concepts you can find in the bible as a guide;

1. Set Priorities

Proverbs 24:27 – Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

Here, we see the bible pointing out that you need to set priorities with your money. Ensure you save enough to cover the basics – what you need to keep yourself and your family alive and able to work – before spending money on other comforts.

2. Make a Budget

Luke 14:28-30 – Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.”

You are to determine how much money you need to set aside to cover all your financial needs not just in the immediate future, but over the long term. Hence, you make your “tower” – your personal finances – can be completed, from ground up.

3. Build an Emergency Fund

Genesis 41:34-36 – Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.

It always makes sense to save resources in good times so you have them to help you get through lean times. In this passage from Genesis, Joseph interprets a dream the Pharaoh has had about seven fat cows grazing by a river that get swallowed up by seven skinny cows. Joseph concludes that the seven fat cows in the dream represent seven years of prosperity for Egypt, which will be followed by seven years of famine. To plan ahead for this disaster, Joseph advises the Pharaoh to store up grain during the seven good years and use that stored grain to get the country through the seven hard years to follow.

Today, financial experts advice that one should set aside roughly six months’ worth of living expenses in an emergency fund as a safe investment, so the money is there to use whenever you happen to need it.

4. Avoid Debt

Proverbs 22:7 – The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

5. Diversify Your Investments

Ecclesiastes 11:2 – Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

As you know, It’s a basic principle of investing that the more you diversify, the more you reduce your risk. So it’s wise to put money into many different types of investments so that a single disaster can’t cost you everything you have.

6. Make a Financial Plan

Proverbs 21:5 – The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

Identify Your Goals. Evaluate Your Situation. List the Necessary Steps to Take.

By writing out your financial plan, and keeping tabs on it every few months to see whether you’re on track, will certainly help you know what you really want out of life and whether or not you are on the right path to get it.

Starting to save when you’re young is absolutely essential. It is a great way to reach your long-term investment goals with the help of compound interest. People who start saving young put themselves at an enormous advantage as life goes on.

Setting money aside at a younger age in life can help you handle some little emergencies without having to significantly change your financial plans. However, being prepared isn’t just about the money you save at a young age, it also adds up quickly and through this process, you get to learn early the importance of saving and being financially responsible.

See below these five great benefits of starting your savings journey at a younger age:

1.To achieve your goals

It’s better to determine an amount you’d like to save up for a set period of time, then calculate how much money per income you should save to reach your goal.

2. To grow your money

Your early investments generates more interest, so the earlier you start to save, the more time your investments have to grow.

3. To prepare for retirement

By simply learning how to manage your budget well, you develop healthy financial habits and have a decent retirement plan. By starting to save in your 20s rather than your 40s, you’ll have more money by the time you retire. It is important to save early and save often if you want to make the most of life’s opportunities and retire with confidence.

4. You’re setting a good example

By developing good money habits at a young age, you can help your children understand the value of getting an early start on saving and being organized when it comes to managing finances and achieving financial independence.

5. You are prepared for unexpected market events

Another good reason it’s  important to start saving early is that if the markets take a downturn, you have time to make up for it. When you start investing smaller amounts over longer periods of time, it allows you to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging.

“The simple trick to saving your money is to begin now”.