Catch 'em young: Nithin Kamath makes a case for teaching money early

Nithin Kamath, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of India's leading online trading platform Zerodha, is occupied with a question that should resonate with today's youngsters: How do we introduce learning about handling money and finances in schools and colleges?

Handling personal finance comes with a steep learning curve, Nithin told YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma at the inaugural session of the 13th edition of TechSparks, India's most influential startup-tech conference.

“To think of money differently at 27-28 years of age is tough, so it’s important to start earlier. Fundamentals of money must be taught in schools and colleges," he said. “The top thing on my mind is how to introduce money in college and schools."

As Nithin highlighted, the younger generation has a larger risk-taking appetite, and are often vocal on social media on why they needed to have learnt about handling finances while in school.

“People like us go home and talk about taking risks and entrepreneurship. But the younger generation is a lot more prepared to take risks,” Nithin said.

Zerodha has been among the earliest in taking learning about finances and the stock market to a wider audience.

In 2019, the company launched Varsity, an extensive and in-depth collection of stock market and financial lessons created by Karthik Rangappa of Zerodha.

It is easily accessible to anyone and is one of the largest online financial education resources targeting millennial and first-time investors.