Pocket money
When is the right age to give your child their first card?
There's no magic birthday. The right age to hand a child their first card depends on three readiness signals, not a number — here's how to read them.
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Ankit Gera Co-founder, Junio + Securis Finance
Ankit co-founded Junio to build the smart pocket-money card for Indian kids and teens. Previously at Paytm.
Connect on LinkedInPosts by Ankit Gera
Money basics
Teaching a 14-year-old to budget — using a real card, not a worksheet
Budgeting worksheets teach kids to fill in boxes, not to make trade-offs. A real card with a real monthly limit does the teaching for you. Here's the method I used with my own daughter.
Ankit Gera • • 6 min read
Card & app
Junio FD vs a regular bank FD: which one for your kid's college fund?
Two safe places to park a college fund — a bank FD in your kid's name, or Junio's in-app FD. Same ~7% rate. The real difference is friction and whether your kid ever sees the money grow.
Ankit Gera • • 5 min read
Card & app
NPCI's new UPI AutoPay windows: what changes for your monthly pocket-money mandate
From May 2026, NPCI is enforcing execution windows for UPI AutoPay and a mandatory 24-hour pre-debit alert. If you've set your kid's monthly pocket-money auto-debit to fire at 10 AM, here's what to adjust.
Ankit Gera • • 6 min read
Pocket money
Should pocket money come in cash, UPI, or both?
Cash teaches scarcity. Digital teaches modern money. The right split for an Indian kid sits somewhere in between — and depends on age more than ideology.
Ankit Gera • • 6 min read
Money basics
Compound interest, explained to a 10-year-old: three games and one good analogy
Most kids glaze over the moment you say 'compound interest.' Here are three short games an Indian parent can play at the dining table — plus one analogy that actually sticks.
Ankit Gera • • 6 min read
Pocket money
Pocket money by city: how much makes sense in Mumbai vs Bangalore vs a tier-2 town?
The same ₹1,000/month buys a very different month in Bandra vs Indore. A city-by-city framework for setting pocket-money amounts that match where your child actually spends.
Ankit Gera • • 5 min read
Pocket money
How much pocket money should you give a 12-year-old in India?
An age-by-age framework for Indian families — what amounts make sense, what they should pay for, and the rules that decide whether pocket money becomes a real money lesson or just a transfer.
Ankit Gera • • 5 min read
Money basics
What every Indian teenager should know about money before turning 18
A short, honest list — the money concepts you'll wish you'd learned at 14, written for the teenager who is going to actually read it.
Ankit Gera • • 6 min read
Parenting
Five money conversations Indian parents avoid — and shouldn't
Most Indian families have unspoken rules around money. The silence becomes the lesson. Here are the five conversations that pay off — and how to start them without it becoming a fight.
Ankit Gera • • 7 min read
Card & app
How to add money to your child's Junio card
In-app top-ups vs recurring auto-debits, what limits apply, and what to do if a load doesn't reflect — the boring but important mechanics of getting money onto the card.
Ankit Gera • • 7 min read
Safety & rules
What the RBI actually says about cards and accounts for minors in India
A plain-English walkthrough of the rules — what minors can and can't have, what KYC is required, why most kids' cards are PPIs (not bank accounts), and what disclosure parents should expect.
Ankit Gera • • 7 min read