Talking Money with Trident High School Students
Shannon and Alyssa from Rural Chartered Accountants headed along to Trident High School to talk with students about something that becomes pretty important when you leave school, managing your own money!
Whether the next step is university, polytechnic, a trade, or heading straight into the workforce, there can be a lot to think about financially.
Shannon shared her knowledge around some of the bigger financial topics, including KiwiSaver, investing, IRD numbers and bank accounts, as well as some of the financial traps young people need to be aware of, such as overdrafts, interest-free offers and Afterpay platforms that offer buy-now-pay latter services.
Alyssa, an ex-Trident High School student who has just completed her Bachelor of Business at the University of Waikato, majoring in Accounting with a minor in Sports Development and Coaching, shared some of the realities of leaving school and heading to university. She spoke about balancing study with one or two part-time jobs, budgeting limited income between rent, transport and other weekly expenses, while still keeping some money aside for yourself and building an emergency fund or savings account. She also encouraged students to make the most of the support available to them, whether that is student services at university or the benefits and support available to apprentices.
Together they encouraged students to take things one step at a time and not be too hard on themselves as they navigate life after school.
It was awesome to be able to share both the financial side and the real-life side of stepping into that next stage of life. A big thank you to Trident High School for having us, and to the 70 students that gave us their full attention and even had some laughs with us.