UPON receiving his first hongbao of the year, my two-year-old son Julian waved it at me.
"Mummy, what's this?" he asked. When I peeled the crimson packet open to reveal the generous blue note inside, he rejected it outright.
"I don't want," he said, even as I tried to explain that the money could buy him a lot of toys.
Instead, he wanted to play with the actual red packet with its bright, traditional Chinese designs.
My boy, I thought, You have your priorities all wrong.
With the economic downturn and various tighten- your-belt scenarios, the need to impress upon young people the value of money has become a more pressing issue for parents.
Private banks are offering financial seminars, complete with investment games, for the kids of high-net-worth individuals.
Parents like American William Gerosa are writing books about how to teach your kids about managing wealth.
It's never too early to have money talks with your child. Our attitudes, as well as our subsequent successes and failures, with money are mostly shaped by observing our parents and those around us.
As a girl, my parents avoided discussing money matters with us kids. By the time I entered the work force, I had gained a healthy distrust of credit cards and lending institutions after watching some near and dear to me struggle with debt and bankruptcy.
While I save every pay cheque religiously, I am also risk-averse to the point that inflation gets the better of me.
As Gerosa pointed out in an interview with a New York journal, the sooner children learn how to plan their own finances, the better it is for them later in life.
"Teach them that money is simply a tool," said Gerosa.
"Don't allow them to think that money is too important. But don't allow them to fear money... to avoid the topic of money or financial planning."
So the Supportive Spouse and I have resolved to tell Julian about stocks, bonds and how they work as soon as he can grapple with complex monetary concepts.
My husband has visions of setting up a mock-stock exchange in our living room.
Meanwhile, as Julian pretends to be a taxi driver at play-time, I tell him he needs to charge for "driving" me to my destination.
"How much?" I ask him.
"Um. Two coins!" he proclaims merrily.
For now, that kind of innocence about money - its necessity and complexities - is priceless.
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