Hello, and a big welcome to this week’s edition of Mini Millionaires.

This week, we have a special request from Linda, who asked us to chat about how house bonds work so she can help her step-son understand all things home loans.

And we agree, Linda. It’s a major expense - so it’s really important we talk to our kids about it from an early age.

Owning a home has multiple components to it, like fixed vs variable interest, buying a home to live in or to rent out to someone else, and paying for utilities, taxes and maintenance. And there’s a lot to unpack. So for this edition, we’re just going to focus on what a home loan is.

If you’d like to learn about a specific topic, feel free to send us a message or reply to this edition of mini millionaires.

Each week, we unpack the week’s topic with a mindset to cultivate, a habit to form, and a tip to try.

Let’s get into: How to teach kids about home loans.

Most mini millionaires live in a home.

But we can almost guarantee they’ve never given it much thought beyond: “This is the place where I live with my family and pets, play with my toys, and go to sleep at night…”

For most people, a home is the single biggest purchase a person can ever make in their life.

And while some people rent the homes they live in, and some may purchase their homes outright, most homeowners have to take out a home loan in order to purchase their homes.

Since it’s such a big expense, it’s something well worth talking to your mini millionaire about as early as possible.

The bank is not your fairy godmother.

A home loan isn't free money.

It’s a formal partnership between the homeowners and the bank. To own a home, you must prove you are a reliable partner by showing the bank you can manage small amounts of money today so they trust you with big amounts tomorrow. 

When you apply for a home loan, the bank looks at your creditworthiness, your income and expenses, and how much money you are able to put down as a deposit. You then repay an amount over 20 or 30 years, in order to afford your new home.

Teaching kids that a home loan is a tool for building wealth, rather than just an account to be paid each month, shifts their perspective from being a debtor to being an owner-in-training.

The Takeaway: Trust is the currency of the financial world, so it helps to earn it early.

Don't Forget The Interest.

A few weeks ago, we spoke about the Family Bank.

In a nutshell, if your mini millionaire borrows R20 for a small treat today, they owe you R22 by next week Friday. 

This simple habit makes the invisible concept of interest very real. 

By experiencing the interest on borrowed money, kids learn to calculate the total cost of an item, not just the price on the box or on the shelf. 

They quickly realise that while loans provide instant gratification, they always come with a price tag that shrinks their future buying power.

The Takeaway: Before you borrow, always ask: "Is the right now worth the extra repayment next week?

Buy back your home with LEGO.

Grab a stack of LEGO to build a small house. 

Start with 80% red bricks (the bank’s share) and 20% blue bricks (the child’s share). 

Every time they complete a chore or make a payment, swap one red brick for a blue one. This visualises the process of slowly buying back your home from the bank. 

It turns a complex 30-year financial contract into a tangible game of stacking bricks toward 100% freedom.

The Takeaway: Every payment is a step toward fully owning your home, one brick at a time.

This week’s free downloadable resource is called Tax Time resource.

While a home loan helps you buy the actual property and structure on it, being a homeowner comes with hidden costs like rates and taxes. It’s the things everyone needs to chip in for the things that just make a neighborhood work, like clean water, streetlights, and trash collection.

Similarly, owning a home is about more than just the bond; it’s about the responsibility of keeping the whole community (i.e. everyone in the house) running, by ensuring our home just works. Things like water, electricity, and even the WiFi.

So in this week’s resource, we’re teaching mini millionaires about contributing to a Services Jar, which goes towards ensuring our home runs smoothly, simulating the added costs of owning a home over and above the bond for the home loan.

FinMaster is the ultimate financial strategy board game designed to turn family game night into a high-stakes wealth-building adventure. It empowers kids (both young and old) to take control of market events, manage diverse portfolios, and master complex financial terms through hands-on play.

Players strategically acquire property assets and navigate real-world economic shifts, including the dreaded housing crash event cards. 

By managing their estate and making clever investment moves, mini millionaires learn the value of property as an asset and the importance of resilience during market downturns, making it the perfect tool for raising future property moguls.

In last week’s edition we asked you how your will is looking? Seems like most of us need to take a look at it again with fresh eyes to ensure it’s up to date.

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😎 Up to date and everyone knows where it is.

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🤔 I have one, but I last checked it 3 years ago.

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🫣 I don’t have one.

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤷 Nah, don't really have anything to bequeath.

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🥊 If anyone wants my stuff they can come and get it.

What you said: 

“It's moved to the top of the list to ensure it's updated after today's Mini Millionaires. Thanks for another fantastic edition.”

JM

Our pleasure. It’s definitely not an easy thing to talk about, but such and important part of leaving a legacy for your loved ones.

What’s been your mini millionaire’s favourite lesson they’ve learnt from our newsletter so far?

Or is there something you’re navigating on their money smart journey right now you’d like us to talk about in an upcoming feature?

Hit reply and tell us. We’d love to know.

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