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Why do people rarely use cash now?

I think this definitely stems from two prime causes. First, the advancement of banking technology has erased the necessity to withdraw money from an ATM and go to the bank, always a time-consuming process and second, I think simply because we have the smartphone, which I suppose is related to the first reason, but for the first I mean more about Internet banking, whereas with the second reason, I think for consumers, the smartphone has revolutionized the way we think about money.

Connected with this new way of paying, convenience definitely plays a major factor, as we can buy things easily without having to even be physically present, so, cash has, in essence, become obsolete.

• the advancement of 发展；进步
• erased 移除；抹掉
• withdraw money from an ATM 从自动取款机上取钱
• time-consuming process 耗时的过程
• revolutionized the way 革新了……的方式
• convenience 便利
• plays a major factor 是主要因素
• in essence 本质上
• obsolete 淘汰的；过时的

When do children begin to comprehend the value of money?

I’m not sure. I guess it depends on the maturity level of individual kids and perhaps how the parents educate their kids, but generally, I think children start to form the idea of the value of money not long after they are capable of following their parents on their various grocery shopping trips.

And in China, also after realizing the value of the much-vaunted and sought-after red envelope at Chinese New Year. When a kid realizes that the red notes in a red envelope can help the child buy candy or toys, then the value of money is definitely realized. So, how old is that? Perhaps at the age of 4 or 5?

• maturity level 成熟度
• educate 教育
• capable of 能够
• grocery shopping trips 购物
• much-vaunted 大肆宣扬的；备受吹捧的
• sought-after 很吃香的

Should parents reward children with money?

Yes and no. I mean, rewarding kids with money is a double-edged sword as it can help youngsters to establish their understanding of the value of money; however, if children are rewarded in monetary form whenever positive deeds are performed, they are likely to get the impression that everything can be exchanged for money, which I think is not a healthy worldview, I’m afraid.

Thus, I believe parents should compensate children with money only for something they’ve worked really hard on and incentivize them with non-monetary items on other occasions, instead of solely relying on money to motivate their young.

Is it necessary to teach children to save money?

Yes, absolutely. In fact, it should be one of the first lessons taught to kids.

Saving money is a life skill, for instance, it keeps ‘rainy days’ at bay, and savings help us to weather the ‘financially-down’ days in life; a proper and well-executed saving plan also enables us to purchase or pay for big-ticket items such as education, buying a house, or a car, something that’s extremely difficult to find money for in a short period time without saving ahead of time.

As such, I think money-saving is one of the essential life lessons parents should teach their kids.

• a life skill 生活技能
• keep...at bay 拜托……的烦恼
• to weather 经受住
• well-executed 实施得当
• big-ticket items 大的开销
• essential 必需的
• life lessons 人生功课