By Katlego Sekhu
With the cost of living at an all-time high, more and more South Africans are left with no choice but to downgrade. Usually, this has a negative effect on the children.
959 Breakfast spoke with Clinical Psychologist and Spiritual healer, Dr Anele Siswana, about why it is important to engage your kids in discussions relating to financial decisions.
Siswana advises teaching children about financial literacy from an early age. “The earlier you give a child financial education, the better because money habits are already developed by age 7,” he says.
Usually when parents start having these conversations only under distress, “they (the kids) don’t seem to understand it.” This may lead to children “engaging in substance” abuse because of the unanticipated lifestyle change.
How can parents protect their well-being?
Dr Siswana says parents can protect themselves when they understand their capacity “emotionally and financially” because they are then able to “redefine certain things for themselves.”
“It can be more difficult for people who are accustomed to a certain lifestyle and rely on material things to define themselves,” explains Dir Siswana.
“Parents need to be good role models and manage the expectations they create when introducing children to certain lifestyles, especially when there is no plan B. Because at the end of the day when parents go through distress children step into a parental role,” he said.
Listen to the discussion on 959 Breakfast with Dineo and Sol.
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