📘 Part 3: Money and Financial Literacy

This episode's vocabulary

Commonplace (adj.) - happening often or often seen or experienced and so not considered to be special.

Contactless (adj.) - relating to the use of wireless technology to make a payment using a credit card or debit card, or a mobile phone.

To tap (verb) - to hit something gently, and often repeatedly, especially making short, sharp noises.

To faff around (phrasal verb) - ​to spend time doing things in a way that is not well organized and that does not achieve much.

Hard cash (noun) - money in the form of coins or notes but not a cheque or a credit card.

Necessity (noun) - the need for something.

To rack something up (phrasal verb) - to increase something such as rent or price, especially by an amount that is considered to be too much.

Debt (noun) - something, especially money, that is owed to someone else, or the state of owing something.

To incur (verb) - to experience something, usually something unpleasant, as a result of actions you have taken.

Interest (noun) - money that is charged by a bank or other financial organization for borrowing money.

Streamlined (adj.) - improved or made simpler.

Commensurate (adj.) - in a correct and suitable amount compared to something else.

Consumerism (noun) - the state of an advanced industrial society in which a lot of goods are bought and sold.

Detached (adj.) - separated.

Cutoff (noun) - a fixed point or level at which you stop including people or things.

Willy-nilly (adverb) - without any order.

Detrimental (adj.) - causing harm or damage.

Sensible (adj.) - based on or acting on good judgment and practical ideas or understanding.

Questions and Answers

M: Why do people rarely use cash now?

R: Well, lots of reasons. I mean, it became commonplace in the pandemic, but even before that, contactless payments were on the rise. It's just easier to tap your card and forget about it, rather than faff around with some wad of notes. Some businesses also no longer accept hard cash, so it's become something of a necessity to carry cards around as well.

M: What are the advantages and disadvantages of using credit cards?

R: Well, like I said when we were talking about cards in general, they're easy to use, and some of them even provide you with rewards for using them. On the other hand, of course, you could rack up a lot of debt very easily if you don't pay the money back on time and then incur a lot of interest.

M: Do you think it's good that more people are using digital payments?

R: Well, I can certainly see why it might be. Payments are more streamlined and people can buy things more easily, but that's resulted in a commensurate rise in consumerism, and I don't think that's good for people if they just become invested in things all the time and detached from their reality.

M: When do children begin to comprehend the value of money?

R: Well, there's some adults who don't do this, so I'm not sure there's like a hard and fast established cutoff point or stage when this realization happens, which makes sense when you consider money is something we've totally made up. I had to pick an age bracket, though, probably just before they're teenagers. And they can see and understand how payments are made and the work involved, but that's just a guess.

M: Is it necessary to teach children to save money?

R: Oh, yes, I'm not sure children would come to this conclusion otherwise if adults didn't show them. So it's definitely needed. As to whether it's a good thing, you'd have to show them how to do it responsibly. Just saving willy-nilly with detrimental consequences for your relationships isn't likely to do much good in the long run, is it?

M: Should parents reward children with money?

R: Well, it's like with saving, really, provided it's done in a responsible manner. I honestly can't see the issue with it. They would need to make sure that it's of sensible amount, and that some restrictions are in place to help them learn about what they can do with it. But I don't see why it would be a big thing or a negative thing in general.

M: Hey! Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

R: My rich answers. Rich in grammar and vocabulary.