The Real Exam Your Child Will Never Have in School

Good morning, my friends. Please, sit. I am Dr. Celso. Not a medical doctor, but a financial doctor from Goa. And today, I want to speak to you not just as a parent, but as a teacher of life's most important subject—one that is missing from every school syllabus.

The Day My Topper Student Asked Me for a Loan

Let me tell you a story. A few years ago, one of my brightest former students came to see me. He had topped his class, aced his engineering, and landed a fine job in a big city. He stood in my office, the same confident young man, but his eyes were worried.

"Sir," he said, "I need to borrow some money. My father is in the hospital, and the insurance is not enough. My salary... it's all gone in EMIs for my new car and a personal loan I took for a holiday."

My heart sank. Here was a boy who could solve complex calculus problems at 18, but at 28, he was helpless before a simple financial equation: Income minus Liabilities equals Zero.

The world tests your financial literacy every single day, and there is no grace marks.

The Marksheet That The Bank Never Asks For

We spend 15-20 years of our lives chasing one thing: marks. We push our children, we worry, we celebrate 95% and fret over 85%. But tell me, when you go to get a home loan, does the bank manager ask for your Class 12 marksheet? No.

He asks for your financial report card. Your income, your savings, your investments, your debt. This is the real marksheet that decides your family's future—its security, its dreams, its dignity in times of crisis.

We teach our children to earn a living, but we forget to teach them how to let their money work for them. We prepare them for a job interview, but not for the interview with life when it asks, "Are you prepared for an emergency?"

Your Family's Financial Lesson

So, from today, let us become students again. Let us learn and teach the only subject that guarantees peace of mind. Here is your first chapter:

• Start the Conversation at Dinner: Talk about needs vs. wants. Explain what an EMI really is. Make money a normal topic, not a secret.
• Give Them a 'Financial Batata': Just like you give pocket money, give them a small amount to manage. Let them make small spending mistakes now, so they avoid catastrophic ones later.
• Show Them the Magic of 'Starting Early': Use a simple example. If they save ₹1000 a month from age 25, they will be a crorepati by 55. If they start at 35, they will have to save three times more. Time is their biggest superpower.
• Protect the Kingdom First: Explain insurance not as an expense, but as the moat around your family's castle. It is the first step of a wise ruler.
• Make Investing a Family Habit: Sit together once a month. Look at a simple SIP statement. Let them see the money grow. This visual lesson is more powerful than any textbook theory.

A wealthy future is not built on a single salary, but on a foundation of wise habits learned young.