Tiger's Financial Literacy Journey from Early Disappointment to Savvy Saving
Tiger missed the first day his class used Banqer. He was pretty unimpressed about this when he first found out, but he soon found that this was to his advantage. While he had been off school, he had effectively being saving his income, while his classmates had already started spending theirs.
Tiger’s in a combined Year 5 and 6 class, and controversially (in his eyes anyway) the Year 6’s are paid more Banqer Dollars ($1,000) than the Year 5’s ($750) for their weekly contribution to class. This is intended to reflect that in the ‘real world,’ those with more job experience are paid a higher wage; however, Tiger sees it as unfair because they have to pay the same bills. Luckily, for Tiger though, one day, he’ll be Year 6!
A Glimpse into Adult Responsibilities
On top of the base level income Tiger and his classmates earn for coming to school, their class also has a thriving career market. Tiger’s job is the Library Collect Monitor, a position responsible for collecting and returning library books. While it’s not the highest paying job in the class (that’s the Accountant who makes sure everyone is paying their bills), the low level of work required in the role, and subsequent work-life balance, lead to it being a sought-after position. Job applications were therefore required where Tiger and his other hopeful classmate applicants outlined why they’d be good at the job and the skills they have, which make them the perfect fit.
Like in the ‘real world’ Tiger and his classmates also have to pay bills. They pay for desk and book storage rental, but more importantly, they also have to make a general bill payment for the educational content they receive from their teacher! While Tiger thinks that “[they] shouldn’t have to pay bills, they should just take it out of what they pay [them]’, this is again designed to more closely mimic real life.
Initially, Tiger wasn’t a big fan of KiwiSaver, “it just takes your money and makes it harder to save”. However, as Tiger’s comprehension of KiwiSaver increased, unsurprisingly, so too did his appreciation of it. And while he’s always been a bit of a risk taker, choosing to opt into a Banqer high-risk fund, he’s now increased his Banqer KiwiSaver contributions from 4 to 8%.
Impact of Banqer on Personal Finance Management
By his own account, the lessons Tiger has learnt through Banqer have also transpired into his home life. He’s always been a saver, but his savings targets have escalated since he started using Banqer.
Tiger enjoys using Banqer as he gets to “learn about money like it’s the real world”. It's no surprise that his favourite part of Banqer is earning and saving his Banqer dollars. He usually saves his Banqer Dollars for his class' end-of-week auctions, which include sweet treats (Tiger tells me he once paid $1,400 for one Fruit Burst) and furniture passes, ‘where you can kick people off furniture if you want to sit there’.
Currently, Tiger has set his sights on a bigger prize - the end-of-term auction. Given the high price he once paid for a Fruit Burst, he wisely began saving early.
