Financial matters are a must.
1. At a young age, say 10 yrs old, open up a bank a/c for them where if you can, deposit $1000 in for example, as a starter, a CBA Gold saver account. Give the child, $5/wk to put into that a/c where they can see the compounding interest going in each month. The current rate is 4.9%. It's surprising how that adds up by the time they reach 18yrs of age. A lot of other banking institutions have the same style of accounts. Just don't withdraw anything from it as you'll lose the interest for that month.
2. When starting out in employment, ask your employer the name of the Super company where their compulsory super is going in for you & also your account number. When you establish the name of the company, contact them & request that you want the contributions to put into Australian shares & International share funds portfolios only. That way you will receive a much higher percentage return over the long term. Be very prepared for some volatility which is NORMAL.
3. Make sure that your monies are not in a balance type of fund. Nor in any Cash portfolio. At a young age, having that type of portfolio is CRAZY. You'll lose a lot by being in that type of portfolio over the long term.
4. Make sure that you're not paying into any insurance scheme through any contributions. They are a complete waste of time & money. Those fees just go back to the super companies coffers. You'll lose an incredible lot of money which should be fully invested into your account. Demand, as it's extremely IMPERATIVE, that any insurance premiums are cancelled.
5.Get used too, & out of you wages, set up with your super company to have a very affordable (the bare minimum) amount to be deducted from your bank a/c to be added to your super. It'll feel very hard indeed to start, but, after a while you wont feel that pain, trust me, to give you a greater reward at the end of your working days. There maybe some tax benefits as well for you there, with a "?" Those extras can be added too or cancelled at any given time.
As a footnote, at my age over 80, I have a supplementary super account where I'm invested in extremely high volatile investments, e.g. Passive Aust., Property, Passive International & International shares. The only reason I'm not in Passive Aust., Shares is that it was too costly to get into them. My wife's small super a/c is also in the same portfolios of the same company. I keep a very ACTIVE interest in what's going on & keep written records of their daily exit prices. I'm very much upto date with them. I've even switched around with them to gain a better return.
I'm a TRUE BELIEVER in investments. I'm very sorry if I've been too long winded & boring. Just a bit of friendly & good advice, only. I' m talking out of sheer EXPERIENCE