“Who wants to own a chocolate store?” Jaime Suralta, former bank manager and current general manager of Founder’s Guide, asked the audience. The crowd responded with a show of hands. “I like Hershey’s,” said one student. “They are my favorite.”
It is never too early for financial literacy.
“You can own a part of Hershey’s or you can make your own chocolate company,” replied Mr. Suralta. “And this is where stocks come in.”
The audience was composed of 12 year-old kids and yes, you read that right — the topic revolved around stocks.
Founder’s Guide coordinated with the Grade 6 math classes of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu to give a brief introduction on the basics of stocks and investment to young students. The talk aimed to promote financial literacy by relating mathematical concepts with real world scenarios. By using illustrations and easy-to-understand examples, the kids easily caught on to the subject.
“So if I want to start my chocolate company which would be 100 pesos but I only have 90 pesos, I can ask another person to give me 10 pesos and in return he would get a share of my company’s earnings proportionate to what he contributed,” Mr. Suralta said, simplifying the concept of dividends. “Let’s say my company earns 10 pesos the next year, how much would that other person get from my earnings?”
“One peso!” The students answered in unison, proving their mathematical prowess and understanding of the topic.
The introduction also discussed common misconceptions about stocks such as it being some sort of a gamble, a scam, or being incredibly risky. Mr. Suralta informed the kids that they can start buying stocks with a minimum amount of 5000 pesos with the help of their parents. He said that financial literacy can start even at an early age.
“The goal is to change the view kids have on money,” said Mr. Suralta. “Instead of thinking of it as something they could just spend or enjoy, they could be taught on how to invest it for their future.”
