Jaiveer Safri

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Year 12 took part in a virtual session where a trainer delivered a financial education programme. The session included bank account options, reading bank statements, minimum wage, payslips, tax, pensions, needs and wants, budgeting, credit and debt and the benefits of saving. 

Financial traps like AER/ APR could increase loss/debt in paying back more than what you borrowed. The importance of setting up a bank account to suit your needs was explained; when setting up an account different banks provide different features. 2 examples were given where person A had 2 bank accounts because they didn't want their money in multiple places at once. However, person B had 5 different bank accounts all used for different needs. For example one of the accounts was used for travelling abroad, because it had specific features like free insurance and no charges/ fees incurred when making transactions in other countries, so this account was specifically used for travelling. But person A didn't travel as person B frequently did, so person A didn't need to make a separate account for this. So setting up an account depends on different needs and situations; how your money is stored depends on whether you will go to university and get student finance loans or get a job/ do an apprenticeship and earn while studying etc. 

Recommendations for apps included: yolt, squirrel, spending tracker and daily budget. You can find your Child Trust Fund on https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fund , and go to https://www.uswitch.com for comparing products and finding the best deals-e.g. mobile contracts.