How Early Money Conversations Shape Financial Behavior

What you learn about money as a child can shape your decisions for life.

On this episode of Get Ready Before Life Happens, Tony talks with Dr. Bilal Pandow about how childhood experiences shape lifelong money habits, why even highly educated people struggle with financial decisions, and how simple, consistent conversations can help build confidence and better financial behaviors over time.

Key takeaways

🔹 Behavior is a central component of financial literacy, rather than just understanding concepts.

🔹 Early experiences with money shape lifelong habits and confidence.

🔹 Even highly educated people struggle without practical financial behaviors.

🔹 Children learn about money through observation and everyday conversations.

🔹 Simple, consistent habits matter more than complex financial strategies.

🔹 Storytelling helps make financial concepts concrete, memorable, and relatable.

🔹 Financial literacy is for everyone and can be built at any stage of life.

Tony’s Take: Financial readiness starts earlier than we think. The habits, conversations, and experiences we have around money in childhood shape how we make decisions for the rest of our lives. The goal is not perfection. It is building simple, consistent behaviors that help people see money as a tool, not a source of stress.

Connect withDr. Bilal Ahmad Pandow:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-bilal-pandow-a5204a16/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financewithbilal/

Books:

• A to Z of Finance for Children: https://a.co/d/01ECYihD
• Money Villa: Learn to be Money Smart: https://amzn.in/d/0c0fhGou

Bio: 

Dr. Bilal Ahmad Pandow is an Associate Professor of Finance at Bahrain Polytechnic and a researcher, editor, and advisor working across financial literacy, financial inclusion, sustainable finance, and climate-related economic resilience. He is a recipient of the Obada Prize in Social Sciences, an international award recognizing innovative and interdisciplinary research excellence. His work focuses on helping individuals, families, and communities make better financial decisions, with a particular interest in children's financial education, policy-relevant research, and practical approaches that bridge academia and everyday life.

Dr. Pandow has authored books designed to disseminate complex financial concepts to broader, non-academic audiences, particularly children, demonstrating his commitment to financial literacy. These include the children's storybook MoneyVilla: Learn to be Money Smart and A to Z of FINANCE for CHILDREN.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:16

What if the most important time to teach financial literacy is long before someone gets their first paycheck? Welcome to get ready before life happens. My guest today is Dr. Bilal Kandel. Bilal, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Thank you, Tony, for inviting me. It is wonderful. The moment I saw your uh uh message on LinkedIn, and it was really heartening to see that uh people around, not it's not only me that who's basically interested in such kind of the topics, it's somebody MALs also. There are lots of people out there who are doing stuff that that's where I'm interested in. So it was really uh a pleasant surprise for me to hear from you. Yeah, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Yeah, well, thanks for connecting and coming on the show. And um, you know, I haven't been doing this with uh guests where I should be doing this when I have guests on from around the world, is you're coming to us from Bahrain. And so I think that highlights that this is a global issue, not just a local issue to wherever people are listening and watching this show from.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Yeah. So so basically, I'm born and brought up in a place uh called Kashmir. I don't know whether you heard about it, and I'm from Indian side of the Kashmir. And uh I have had my all my education and even my work. I have uh, I mean, after finishing my PhD, I have worked here in university and then I moved to Middle East. I've served in Oma, and now I'm here from almost like over three years now in Bahrain. So I'm working here in the university where I'm teaching bachelor's and master's uh program, and mostly the courses that I teach is in finance, yeah. So that's a little bit about me.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Yeah, well, that that's interesting, and we're gonna get into this, of course. But you know, during our initial conversation, you know, I majored in finance and you and I compared some of the issues, and and that's gonna be a good part of the show, so I won't jump into that right now. Um, however, you know, tell us a little bit about yourself. When did you realize that financial literacy needs to start much earlier in life? Or when, you know, how did that idea come to you?

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Uh interesting, actually, Tony. You know, my interest in financial literacy grew from the seeing how many people, including university students and even adults, struggled with basic money concepts uh despite being highly educated in other areas. And that made me clear that the financial capability is not something people naturally absorb later in life. And it needs to be built earlier, deliberately and consistently. Over the time, my work shifted towards the idea of financial literacy should begin in childhood when attitudes and habits around the money are first formed. That's where I started.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

And I think that's really important is you know that they say that so many of our things are set, you know, but by age seven or eight. Uh, so it's it's amazing that it's much earlier than we think. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

That that that's yeah, you know, uh the idea of at seven, I'll say at the age of the four, even to start with. Uh, I have started experimenting uh the whole project at my home first. So my daughter, Hood Fatima, who started like uh at the age of four, I started with her with the terminologies, you know, uh, when you were in school, I was in school, and even now when our kids are in school, they're being taught like if is apple, be if a boy, and other stuff like that. And uh that that's where I started saying, okay, if we can teach them if it's apple, although they don't understand the difference between the apple and the peer, and they hardly make out what does Apple mean or anything else, but what goes into this, the purpose is to uh teach them the language, and that's how I started with saying, like, let me teach them if it's accounting, be if it's banks, if it's currency. So, although they'll not be able to understand the differences and they'll not be able to understand the deeper meaning behind that, but what goes into their minds is subconscious mind, it fits into their subconscious mind. And when later on in their lives, when they move on and then they really see bank and other stuff, so they can actually reflect that they had actually learned about it, the terms are all the uh back in the backdrop. So that that sits in their subconscious mind. So, yeah, the earlier the better.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Yeah, I I I think that's an important point, is that uh, you know, that a lot of this gets absorbed into our subconscious, and we don't realize that um our money patterns and the decisions we make is you know, I spent the bulk of my career uh consulting to financial planners and attorneys and you know going through that. And as you point out, it's not a matter of education or intelligence or anything. You know, people just have these set ideas about their money that you know are deep in their subconscious.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Yes, absolutely correct. True, true, true, true. So I agree with you. So, you know, but I mean it has uh uh I mean not much to do with like, you know, I'll tell you something about uh what surprised me most was that even the students who were studying finance uh academically often understood theory better than the practice. So they could discuss markets, models, uh technical concepts, but many still found everyday money decisions challenging. And that showed me there is a gap between the formal finance education and the real financial capabilities. And that's ironic, but the fact.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Yeah, I I think that is such an important point, is you know, and that's something you and I talked about as well. Is you know, I was a finance major and learned about investments, I learned about marketing, I learned about economics, I learned about accounting. But the one thing I didn't learn about was credit cards and managing debt.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

And I charged up quite a bit of credit card debt, even though like the small financial behavior. So it needs to be developed and inculcated right from the earlier stage of the life. So that's what is missing. So when it comes to the financial decision making, we are not able to make the financially prudent financial decisions. So that's where even the education does not matter much. But if you consistently do it with the children, small ages, so that the financial behavior gets into that fits into.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Yeah, that's yeah, I agree with you completely. Is that you know that early age is, you know, that's when we can help kids make a difference. So, how do those early experiences with money really shape the way people think about it later in life?

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Such an interesting uh question. No, uh early experiences shape whether money feels like something empowering, stressful, or scarce or manageable. So children often learn money attitude by observing parents, uh hearing conversation at home, seeing how financial decisions are made. Uh, those early impressions can stay with them for life and influence savings, spendings, the way they are doing spendings, borrowings, and confidence as well. So that's something very important that uh one needs to learn.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Yeah, and I think that's uh important is because some of our uh you know impressions are from our parents, our environment. You know, if our parents argued about money, then we tend to think that money is a taboo subject that we don't want to talk about with our spouse because it's like our partner.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

So we have to basically normalize these talks uh maybe at our dinner table or maybe once in a week, where we engage young kids uh in those talks. So don't make it stressful for them, but make it more engaging for them, where we basically involve them, talk about them, not making it uh money talks like it taboos.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Yeah, and I think it's it really important, as you point out, is to include the kids because not only is it financial literacy, is it you know, it just as you point out, it normalizes that it's okay to talk about money.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

And involving the kids is a powerful learning experience. And also it can avoid some of those things like, hey, I want to buy this, I want to buy that. If the kids have an idea, you know, that money is not unlimited, or at least money is not unlimited for most of us. True, true, true, true, true. Yeah, they may not want those Air Jordans every time. So absolutely correct.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Yeah, you know, but I mean uh uh we feel like you know this childhood is a stage when habits, uh, routines and values are formed more strongly.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Yeah, I I think that's it, and we don't realize that our habits go back to some of those things we learned at an early age, and it's hard for us to think about that because it's in our subconscious. And so we don't reflect on that, and you know, then those patterns are set and you know they impact all of our decision making. So you oh, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

No, no, no, no. I mean, fine. Please, if you have any questions related to to the, I mean, I would love to glad to answer if you have.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

So otherwise, you know, yeah, yeah, please don't.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

That's okay. So, what I was gonna ask is then how can people start to get in touch with themselves, maybe not in touch with themselves is not the right word, but how can people start to explore these habits and things in their subconscious? Is that a matter of education? Is it a matter of something else?

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah, yeah, you know, but uh what I believe is if children learn early how to save, how to budget, share, and delayed gratifications, those behaviors can become part of their normal decision making. And it's much easier to grow healthy money habits earlier than to correct harmful ones later. So that's something that we need to be really, as parents or those who have kids uh who are at the age of five, four, three, uh, in seven, ten, they need to start having those conversations with them. They need to have inculcate those healthy money habits earlier. Uh, otherwise, it's like for you and me, it's really very uh hard for now to have uh changes in the financial financial behavior towards money. So that's something that we need that as variants, they need to start uh build those money habits early on in their lives.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

So, you know, so when you're working with your uh college students, is do you incorporate some of these financial literacy lessons to help them you know grow or reshape how they're thinking about money?

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Uh you know, but uh I mean uh at our level, where I'm teaching bachelor's and masters uh students, uh we have courses, I told you like different courses on finances, I teach them, but it's really very hard for me as an academician right now uh to build that behavior. So that behavior needs to be built at very earlier stages where the family is involved. It's not basically the academics only, uh, where we kind of build those behaviors. It's basically it takes a whole village to raise the kid. So similarly, it takes a whole bunch of like uh existing structures in terms of the family, the community, the schools where they're going and other things. So they then build up those behaviors. And for us, where we are having the students for bachelor's and master's program. Uh, we do, I mean, kind of give them the projects and make it real life experience for them while we teach them. So uh, yeah, hopefully, we are also trying to build their financial behavior uh through those projects, through engaging them in uh real life scenarios, providing them the real life scenarios, and they come up with this uh the solutions, the options, all the things.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Yeah. And that's, you know, I think one scenarios are very important. However, you know, I really want to go back and emphasize what you said that people can't rely just on educators and schools to help their kids be financially illiterate. As you point out, it needs to happen all across the board. It needs to happen at communities, houses of worship. Uh, you know, parents need to be involved. Uh, you know, it's not just one place. And uh it's never too late in my mind to become financially literate. However, you know, again, just to emphasize what we're talking about, the earlier the better.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, but you can become financially literate even at the uh old age, like uh at any age be it. Uh, but then to work on the financial behavior, it becomes really, very difficult and hard. So that's why uh my whole uh this education, the work that I'm doing is to start this financial uh literacy earlier so as to build that financial behavior, so which will I mean kind of they can reap the benefits and later on their whole life. So that that's the essence of my work. That's where uh I'm trying to focus on, and that's where I'm basically uh stressing focusing on.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Definitely. And it's such an important part of the spectrum, uh, you know, because as you say, it is harder to change when you're older because you you do become a little set in your ways, and you've been doing something for a long time, and you have the subconscious mind and all those things, that it does make it challenging. Um, one of the things you talk about is it's storytelling. Why is storytelling such a powerful way to teach children about money?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Uh yeah, I mean, again, I mean it's it's a wonderful question. I mean, lots of people have asked me about it. And in fact, for my uh the second book which I've written about is Moneyvilla. So where I've used the storytelling as a means to uh basically engage with the kids uh and tell, give them the different uh uh financial literacy lessons. Uh what I believe is storytelling makes abstract ideas concrete and memorable. So children connect more easily with characters, situations, and examples than with lectures or rules alone. So a good story can show consequences, uh, it shows emotions, uh the choices, and the values in a way that makes financial lessons both uh understandable and relatable. So that's why the storytelling is a very, very powerful tool when it comes to especially the teachers, when it comes to the especially to the children, uh and that too when we are dealing with the subject or when we are dealing with a critical life skill such as money.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Yeah, and I think it's really important is that uh, you know, instead of, you know, because the first go at financial literacy was more concept-based, you know, you're gonna learn about saving, or you're gonna learn about XYZ. However, that's not how people really learn, is you know, as you mentioned, is they learn through scenarios or they learn through a story. Humans are storytellers, you know, storytelling has been a part of humanity for for pretty much recorded history. And so it's so important.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

So you know, we basically when we talk about the finances, be it savings, budgeting, insurance, the profits, the losses. So these are all abstract ideas. So we need to basically concretize them and make it memorable for them, and that that you can do it by means of storytelling, so where you don't actually tell them roles alone. So you're basically building the situations, the characters around it, give them the examples, the scenarios, and tell them about the what can be the consequences if this doesn't happen, what will happen? And uh it also at the same time you evoke the emotions, uh, provide them with the different choices, the values. So in a way where you basically teach them those financial lessons that are both understandable and at the same time relatable to them.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

I I love that. You need to make it relatable because I think that's been one of the challenges with financial literacy is that it's not relatable. People think about this stuff and it's it's hard. Uh, but when you're telling a story, people can see themselves in the story and it can follow along. I think the other thing, you know, uh that I really want to emphasize that you said is emotions. Emotions play a huge role with our money. And what you're telling a story is characters in a story have emotions and feelings, and those are expressed.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

True. So, yeah, you know, based on my experiences, uh uh I mean, I have written a couple of two books uh on financial literacy for children, and uh uh the lots of uh feedbacks that have come from the parents uh saying that when we told them about these stories, what we have seen is that uh they get emotionally about later on with the money. So they they the moment we take them to shopping malls or we take them, so they they they can have those emotional connect with lots of things, so rather than uh uh making impulsive buying and other things, so the that emotions are evoked through storytelling, so that's really important when you I mean uh kind of engage them with these storytellings.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah, I think that's really important is to recognize that because as you as you mentioned, impulse buying is like one of the biggest destroyers of our personal finances, and most people don't realize even that they're doing the impulse buying. And then unfortunately, marketing is just all about getting you to do impulse buying.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Uh, true. And even that, like what you know, it's like the delayed gratification part of it. So we need to uh I mean develop that habit earlier so that they kind of build on that. So delayed gratifications has to be there. So a part of the whole uh journey, financial journey for them.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Yeah, and that's that's really important, is that it can be hard to think about delayed gratification. We see that with young people, where you know, if you start saving for your financial independence retirement at age 20, you don't need a lot of money because of the you know in compound interest.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

However, you know, so that takes care of your retirement that they that gives you the financial empowerment and the freedom earlier in life. So rather than uh getting into that, like even at even 50s or later 60s, uh people don't have even the enough to sustain themselves, where it's hard for them to even earn or then uh go out for work on a daily basis. So it becomes really very hard for them to move on, to to to uh uh basically live their lives, manage their uh day-to-day expenses, livings.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Yeah, 100%. So, uh, what can parents and educators do today to start building stronger, healthy money habits with the kids, you know, either that they're teaching or their own kids? What advice would you give them?

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Uh you know, parents and educators can begin with simple age approximately. Appropriate conversation. For example, about savings, spendings or needs versus wants. And planning ahead. So they can use everyday situations, shopping, when they take the kids to shopping, give them choices, and allowances, provide them allowances for the small chores at home, or maybe even uh outside as well. Uh, so similarly, in classrooms, we can engage them with class projects and make these as teaching moments for them, these financial things. So the key over here, I would like to emphasize uh over here is the key is consistency and not complexity. So you have to have consistency and don't make these financial concepts complex tofer them. Make it easier, but consistent, not complexities.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

That's what the key is. Yeah, I I I love that. And you know, to reiterate what you said is the conversations can be age appropriate, and kids at a very early age understand some of these concepts much more than we think they do. And so you you you can start doing it. And as you point out, it doesn't have to be incredibly complex, it can be like put some money aside from your allowance, you know, to get those shoes you want or that new trail.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Absolutely, absolutely. Uh so that they uh build on those habits, uh, so they actually then start working around that when you provide them either small allowances for something, uh, or even in the classrooms, teachers can engage them with uh real life projects, class projects, and make it very uh these lessons uh memorable for them so that these teachings become memorable for them and uh you consistently do it.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

That's that's the key. Yeah, I I love that. So I think this is a good point to transition to what I call the get ready hot take trio. These are three quick questions I ask all of my guests. The first one is what's one myth about financial literacy education that you're trying to break?

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Uh okay, okay. You know, one myth is that financial literacy is only for the adults and only for the people with income. So that myth I'm trying to break. And what in reality I have seen is children can begin learning the foundations of financial thinkings very early in life. At the age of the four, I told you about my daughter. Another myth is that financial literacy is just about saving money, it's also about, but they forget that it's also about decision making, it's about responsible behavior, the responsibility part of it. And it's also at the same time about the resilience that it brings in. Those are the things that I'm trying to shackle. That's those are the things that I'm trying to break those myths around.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

I I love that. And you know, that's the work that I'm trying to do as well, is that it's those things, the decision making, the responsible behavior, the resilience. Yeah, those are the important things. And once you have those, then you can choose your saving product or investing product, you know, but but you have the skills and the tools rather than just learning, like you said, and that was the old financial, the original financial literacy concept is we're going to teach people about products and services rather than you know thinking about the decision-making process. True, completely. Yeah. That's what it is all about. Definitely, definitely. So let's get out the time machine for a minute. If you go back in time, knowing what you know now about money, what advice would you give your younger self?

SPEAKER_01 26:33

Okay, interesting. Uh, you know, I would tell my younger self to start learning about money earlier. Ask more questions, and pay attention to small financial decisions because they had a poor time. And I would also say that financial discipline is less about perfection and more about a gain. I'm saying, and it's trusting on it, it's about consistency. So it's not about the perfections you have made the perfect decisions, it's completely not about perfection, it's all about consistency. Whether you are doing, whether you're making financial discipline as consistently that that that's something very uh I think the message that we need to give our younger selves or poor ones uh who are younger. So consistency.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Yeah, I love that. And for me, the whole bottom line of all my work is the asking more questions and curiosity. I think that's a core skill we can all practice. And the more questions you ask, the more you're gonna get the information that you need. When you don't ask questions, you don't get information. So I love that. So to close out, what's your number one tip to change the way we think about money?

SPEAKER_01 28:11

Uh, it would be start talking about money openly and early. Again, I'm strassing openly, but early. When money becomes part of everyday learnings, children and adults alike begin to see it as a tool for planning and well-being rather than a source of fear or even confusion sometimes. So, those are some things that we need to. That's that's something that I, as a tip, I would like to give it to everybody out there, especially I'm against asking for parents, for educators.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Fantastic. Yeah, I love that. That's wonderful advice. So, Bilval, thanks for coming on the podcast. Where can people learn more about you and your work and pick up a copy of your books for their kids?

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Thank you. Thank you, Tony, for doing that. That's that's something that's interesting, and that's something uh very easy. So people can learn about my work through my LinkedIn profile, which I'll be sharing with you uh by following my publications, uh the editorial projects that I have had in my during my tenure in academics and right now also, the academy collaborations that I'm having right now. And my focus remains on financial literacy, financial inclusion, and practical education that helps people make stronger life decisions.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

I love that. And for everybody who's watching and listening, if you have access to the show notes, there'll be links uh to Bilal's work, his books, and to his LinkedIn profile on the show notes. So you can go to the show notes there to find the links. Uh so Bilal, thanks again for joining us on Get Ready Before Life Happens.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Thank you so much, Tony, for having me. It was really wonderful uh to have the conversation, especially during the times, these challenging times, uh when uh everything seems depressing, especially I'm based in Bahrain, everything is disciplined, uh uh really depressing. But thank you for this lovely, wonderful conversation. Uh, it it's bringing back life to me. And it was really honestly, I enjoyed uh talking to you. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Oh, well, I I really appreciate it because you know, as I mentioned, and you know, that that it's guests like you who make this show happen. So I really appreciate your time. Um, and thank you everyone, as always, for tuning in to this episode of Get Ready Before Life Happens. If this episode changed the way you think about money, please be sure to share it with a friend and to subscribe. You can also join the Get Ready Movement at my website, Tony Stewart.com, to receive my newsletter. And if you want to support the Get Ready Movement, you can do that at buymeacoffee.com slash Tony Stewart. Because when life happens, the way you think about money matters, you can't do it.