At what age to start investing in the stock market?

A blog post at Bully the Bear has generated much interest and discussion: The youth and the stock market.

Although I have some ideas of my own, I was feeling lazy and didn't want to comment but a cboxer, Evolution of the "lobster taller than small girl , ak's t shirt older than evo" fame, put me in the hot seat and asked "Ak , whats ur view on LP's new post".

I said that I have introduced my 9 year old niece to investing in the stock market. Yes, she is in primary 3 this year. She has some savings in the bank which is paid a paltry sum of interest. 0.2% per annum for young savers? Maybe it is more, I am not very sure but still paltry.

Anyway, she has some shares in SPH for more than a year now bought using my account and she has collected one year's worth of dividends. It is quite a lot of money for a 9 year old and she's happy with the dividends, needless to say.

Getting dividends from investing in SPH has demonstrated to my niece the power of delayed gratification. 

By not using her savings on things she wants to buy and by investing for income, she is able to use the passive income to buy the things she wants later on without touching her savings at all. 

I heard from my sister that my niece is very frugal these days and I heard from my mom that my niece would sometimes ask her what's the latest share price of SPH.

Sound ideas in personal finance and investment, I believe, should be taught to children as soon as they are able to understand them. Teaching them the importance of thrift and savings is but the first step. How to make their savings work harder? 

Now, that's a big second step.

I remember how I would save all my pocket money when I was a boy in order to buy the toys I wanted. 

If only I had someone to tell me I should save all my money and how to make my money work harder for me then.

Related posts:
1. Teaching young children financial literacy.
2. Little book that beats the market.