Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

10 years ago I wrote a book for children and their parents to help teach them good money habits. Entitled The Money Tree: Securing your child's financial future, it has been provided free of charge via download and also in hardcopy form to tens of thousands of Australians. The aim of The Money Tree was to take the mystery out of money. It showed how simple strategies of saving and investing could lead to wealth and a feeling of achievement and control over one's financial future. At the same time, the underlying message was that if too much emphasis was placed on money, our children may never truly comprehend important qualities such as compassion, acceptance and personal integrity.

The message to parents was that by educating their children about saving and investing, children could be free to pursue all of their dreams. Their futures would not be limited by bank balances, and they would be free to devote their time and energy is to the rest of life's experiences. The booklet outlined a simple rationale of saving and investing that would literally guarantee any child of future free of financial concerns. I still consider that mastering good money habits, together with good health habits, is integral to a happy and successful life. In the book I recommended investment in the stock market.

I still subscribe to that advice, the big caveat being that the cost of transacting in the market and the quantum of funds necessary to invest efficiently are sometimes difficult for young and small investors. That is why I was delighted to discover the Acorns investing program has arrived in Australia. Acorns is a free app for smartphones that allows people to automatically invest into a diversified portfolio of exchange traded funds using their spare change. The concept is very simple: every transaction in your bank account is rounded up to the nearest dollar, with the rounding figure added to your Acorns account. It is convenient, it is effective and it is very, very simple. But best of all it is also very inexpensive. It charges fees of just $15 per year on balances under $5,000, meaning that even the smallest investor can afford to get started with a portfolio.

Acorns is the brainchild of father and son founders Jeff and Walter Cruttenden. Launched in the US in 2014, Australia is the first country outside of America to receive the app. It has already preregistered over 26,000 members in Australia. Acorns makes it easy and affordable for every Australian to save and invest. In my mind, it is the ideal way to teach children good money habits, allowing them to discover the joy of financial freedom in their later lives. Having had a long-term interest in the financial wellbeing of our future generations, I consider Acorns to be a very welcome addition to the arsenal of investment education and practice, because anything that breaks down the barriers associated with establishing financial freedom is an investment winner, and Acorns certainly appears to fit that bill.