Building a better tomorrow through financial skills

Managing money is something we all need to think about throughout life. Where do I get money from and how do I spend it? What happens when interest rates rise? Financial literacy is a skill that helps you manage your everyday finances and prepare for the future. It’s also a skill everyone can hone and develop. This is why we at Nordea support children, young people and adults alike in improving their financial skills.

We teach financial skills to 180,000 children and young people every year

It’s essential that children and young people become financially literate. Learning financial skills at a young age sets you up for the rest of your life. Paying your bills on time helps you maintain a clean credit record and saving money helps you prepare for unexpected costs.

Our core expertise is finance and we want to share our knowledge with the future generations. We work with pupils and students of all ages, growing their know-how through training, games and exercises. This gives them a good foundation in money management.

Watch the video about Financial skills workshop (in Finnish only).

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How do we teach financial skills to children and young people?

Nordea works closely with schools and various partners to help children learn about finances at a suitable pace. Together we have developed training courses and exercises that make learning fun and memorable. We also provide support to young people for entering the world of work and pursuing entrepreneurship. Read about our projects and what the young people say about them below:

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Financial skills workshops

Financial skills workshop - small

We organise financial skills workshops in comprehensive and upper secondary schools across Finland. In the workshops, the participants learn about:

the cost of living
how to save money
how to manage money.

Feedback on the workshop:

“I learned that saving money is important and now I ask myself: do I really need something or do I just want it?”

Learn more about our workshops

Games and competitions

Moneymaster

Games and competitions are a fun way to learn about finances. We have been involved in developing:

Moneymaster games that children and young people can play on their phones
the Moneymaster competition where 8th graders take part in a friendly financial skills contest.

Feedback on the Moneymaster game:

“It’s great to learn financial skills from a game. I wanted to play all levels through at once!”

Learn more about games and competitions

Work experience programme

Yrityskylä - small

Children and young people learn about the world of work through hands-on exercises. They can, for example:

try out different jobs in the Yrityskylä learning environment
gain work experience through the remote TET programme
learn future skills in a business class for upper secondary school students.

Feedback on remote TET:

“Before this week I wasn’t interested in anything and now I’m interested in everything.”

Learn more about our work experience programme

Preparing for adulthood

Smiling students - small

In collaboration with Opopassi, we have developed a personal finances course for upper secondary school students. The lessons give students the tools they need to prepare to live independently. For example:

how to finance a home
how to apply for student financial aid.

Feedback on the course:

“Even if you don’t know what you’ll need money for in the future, your savings may come in handy one day.”

Read more about the personal finances course

Proactive support with money worries

Financial skills project

The Deaconess Foundation’s Vamos financial skills project helps young adults aged 16 to 29 to manage their personal finances. The project deals with:

everyday spending
breaking the cycle of debt
how your bank can help.

Feedback from a participant:

“I got the feeling that it’s okay to talk about money and you can get help if you need it.”

Read more about the Vamos financial skills project

Mentoring young entrepreneurs

4H - summer entrepreneurship - small

We support young people who are interested in business and entrepreneurship.

4H summer entrepreneurship is a safe way to practice running a business. Nordea provides the entrepreneurs mentoring and guidance.

Feedback from a summer entrepreneur:

“Balance sheets were a new concept to us. We have learned a lot from our Nordea mentors.”

Read more about promoting entrepreneurial skills

Employer-supported volunteering

Making a real difference

“Each Nordea employee can spend two working days a year for volunteering projects that support financial and entrepreneurial skills. Our employees are happy to be able to help people and make a real difference.”

Pirjo Kuusela - Corporate Social Responsibility - Small

– Pirjo Kuusela, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Nordea

Learning financial skills has many benefits:

Financial skills give you the tools you need to manage your personal finances. Understanding your income and expenses helps you live within your means.
Money impacts all aspects of your life. An unpaid bill can lead to a vicious cycle of debt, which can in the worst case mean that your property will be seized and that you’ll have a harder time getting a job or a rental home.
Financial skills are a way to make a difference in society and contribute to sustainable development. We as individuals and as a society decide how we invest and what we finance. These decisions also have consequences for the next generations and the environment.

Learning for all

Read about our financial and digital skills projects to find out how we support children, young people, adults and older people alike.

You can also read about our projects that promote entrepreneurship.

Financial skills workshops

Financial skills workshops

We hold interactive financial lessons for schools, where we look at how to manage your personal finances and save and invest your money. More than 15,000 pupils and students across Finland have already participated in these lessons.

Comprehensive school

We offer two different financial skills workshops for pupils in comprehensive school:

Grades 1 through 4: The workshop deals with the prices of various products and services.
Grades 5 through 9: The workshop deals with the cost of living using a quiz format.

The aim is to teach children how to spend money in a manner that suits their lifestyle and to give them an understanding of the daily expenses of their family.

The workshops for spring 2023 are fully booked. We will announce the workshops for autumn 2023 in May.

Upper secondary school and vocational school

Our financial skills workshop for upper secondary and vocational students consists of two lessons:

Relationship with money and budgeting
Saving and buying your own home

The lessons deal with the participants’ relationship with money and spending, managing their finances through budgeting, the benefits of saving, and various forms of housing. The young participants receive tips and tools for managing their finances sustainably and working towards their dreams. The aim is to get the participants to become aware of their spending habits and to plan their current and future finances.

The workshops for spring 2023 are fully booked. We will announce the workshops for autumn 2023 in May.

Moneymaster games and competition

Moneymaster game

In November 2018, Nordea launched the Moneymaster mobile game together with Economy and Youth TAT and the Finnish Foundation for Share Promotion. The game can be used by teachers as a tool for teaching financial skills during lessons or in various events.

The Moneymaster game teaches young people to manage their finances and save and invest their money, and it’s also useful in teaching languages (Swedish, English, Finnish). It’s designed for 13–17-year-olds and free for everyone to play. Moneymaster works on all devices so anyone can join the game

Moneymaster is played by tens of thousands of young people per year.

Learn more about the Moneymaster gameOpens new window (in Finnish)

Play the gameOpens new window

Moneymaster Junior

Moneymaster Junior, the little sibling of Moneymaster, was launched in October 2021. The game was produced by Nordea in cooperation with Economy and Youth TAT and Ekokumppanit.

Intended for primary school students, Moneymaster Junior is a mobile game featuring an imaginary cartoon world where children can safely learn financial skills. The players’ own choices with which they can influence their personal finances and environment, and well-being as a consequence, are a key part of the game. The free-to-play game is built on a story tailored to its age group and their circumstances, involving choices that impact sustainable development, the environment, well-being and the economy.

The game works on all devices free of charge, enabling anyone to join in.

Feedback from pupils:

“It’s great to learn financial skills from a game. I wanted to play all levels through at once!”

“The best thing about Moneymaster is work. You can develop everything a little bit in the game. The advice that we remember is: you should work.”

Check out Moneymaster JuniorOpens new window (in Finnish)

Play the gameOpens new window (in Finnish)

Moneymaster competition

The annual Moneymaster team competition is based on the Moneymaster game. Competition is aimed at 8th graders. The last competition was organized on May 4, 2023 at the Nordea Campus in Helsinki. More than 80 teams from all over Finland participated in the competition.

The ten best teams from the competition's qualifiers made it to the finals.

The Moneymaster competition 2023 was won by the Hakkarin Massiruhtinaat team from Hakkari’s school in Lempäälä. Talousfanaatikot team from Juhani Aho's school in Iisalmi took second place and the team Tapis8A from Tapainlinna's school in Hyvinkää took third place.

Media release about the 2023 competitionOpens new window (in Finnish)

Partners: Economy and Youth TAT and Stock Exchange Foundation

Work experience programme (TET)

Yrityskylä, in partnership with Economy and Youth TAT

Yrityskylä encourages 13–15-year-olds to learn about entrepreneurship and personal financial management, including investing and saving, by practicing their financial skills in simulated saving and business negotiations in which Nordea employees play the role of banker or other expert. Through the simulations, the participants also learn to cooperate better and take more initiative.

Nordea supports Yrityskylä in more than 10 locations, including by holding job interview exercises before the Yrityskylä Day when the young participants choose jobs for themselves.

Feedback on Yrityskylä:

“I learned that even if a product is cheap, you shouldn’t buy it just because you can.”

See how to sign up for Yrityskylä on the website of Economy and Youth TATOpens new window (in Finnish)

Work experience programme (remote TET)

We have arranged work experience sessions through Teams for young people since autumn 2020, which have become very popular. During a TET period, the pupils work in teams on various tasks related to finances and the economy, learning skills about entrepreneurship and job application processes that will come in handy in the future.

Feedback on remote TET:

“This was the best TET and I learned a lot about money, finances and other important things.”

In autumn 2023, we will participate in the World’s Biggest Remote TET, which will be organised by Economy and Youth TAT from 6 November to 10 November 2023.

Read more and sign up for the World’s Biggest Remote TET eventOpens new window (in Finnish)

Business courses, in partnership with Economy and Youth TAT

Business courses are designed for general and vocational upper secondary schools. The participants at Takeoff, a side event of Slush for young people, will be selected annually from among the students who have completed the courses. More than 87,000 students have already completed the course package.

Feedback on a business course:

“I used to think that running a business is very simple, but when I participated in the course, I learned that customer service is more than just helping the customer.”

Read more about business courses on the website of Economy and Youth TATOpens new window (in Finnish)

Preparing for adulthood

Support with money worries

Digital guidance sessions for older adults

Upper secondary school and vocational school

Our financial skills workshop for upper secondary and vocational students consists of two lessons:

Relationship with money and budgeting
Saving and buying your own home

The lessons deal with the participants’ relationship with money and spending, managing their finances through budgeting, the benefits of saving, and various forms of housing. The young participants receive tips and tools for managing their finances sustainably and working towards their dreams. The aim is to get the participants to become aware of their spending habits and to plan their current and future finances.

The workshops for spring 2023 are fully booked. We will announce the workshops for autumn 2023 in May.

We advise more than 10,000 older adults in the use of digital services every year

The importance of financial literacy in a digital world will continue to grow in the future. By providing guidance on how to use digital services, we can improve the skills and security of older adults in a society undergoing a digital transformation.

See our digital advice section for support in digital banking.

Our cooperation partners include Enter ryOpens new window, Valli ryOpens new window, Savonetti ryOpens new window, Mukanetti ryOpens new window, Joen severi ryOpens new window and Turun kansalliset seniorit ryOpens new window.

Our partners

We work closely with various organisations:

Economy and Youth TAT is a national influencer, helping young people to improve their financial and work skills as well as getting them excited about entrepreneurship.

Go to Economy and Youth TAT website Opens new window

Vamos supports 16-29-year-olds in their daily lives. The project helps them with finances, mental health issues, living arrangements and planning the future.

Go to Vamos website Opens new window

Plan International is a humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality. The organisation aims at promoting children’s education and health and getting them to actively participate in making decisions concerning them.

Go to Plan International website Opens new window

Opopassi is an inspiring tool for planning your future. Upper secondary school students can complete the OP2 student counselling course by collecting Opopassi points.

Check out the course on the Opopassi website. Opens new window

Service Union United PAM is a trade union for people working in private service sectors. As a specialist in working life, PAM improves its members’ livelihoods, job security and quality of life.

Visit PAM’s website Opens new window