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Goa MFD Celso Fernandes of Nave Marg Financial Consultant has started a children club ‘Little Stars of Nave Marg’ to educate minors about mutual funds and encourage their parents to start investing in it for their children.
Talking about the club, Celso said, “I started this club in April 2023 to help children up to the age of 8 so that they have at least 10 years on their side to create a decent corpus by the time they attain majority. Having said this, children above 8 years are also welcome to be a part of it. Today, 384 little stars are a part of this club and have SIP or lump sum investments in their names,” he added.
Celso said he first reached out to children of existing clients in the age group of up to 8 years to become the member of his club and gradually, other kids joined through word of mouth.
In this club, Celso explains to parents and their children basics of finance and how they can fund higher education of children through mutual funds. He gives example of the current fee structures of a few top educational institutes and its value after 10 years after factoring in inflation.
When asked how he convinces parents and their children to invest in mutual funds, he said, “Most of these parents are my clients and have already experienced my services first-hand, hence convincing them was not difficult. In fact, they even voluntarily told other parents about the club which garnered more participation.”, said Celso.
Interestingly, the MFD has introduced a digital mascot ‘Midas - The Owl’ which shares simple financial lessons in a fun way. He said, “Each time parents see Midas on their WhatsApp chat window, they immediately understand it is a message for their little stars and watch it together with them.”
“While making learning fun and igniting curiosity, Midas encourages children to ask questions which I take up one-on-one along with their parents. And most importantly, with regular engagement like this, children start taking finances seriously at an early age.”, he added.
