15-03-2024 09:00

“Managing your own economy well is about taking care of your own future”

On a yearly basis, Nordea supports more than 200,000 children and young people in building basic financial skills.

At Nordea, we believe that financial skills are a cornerstone of a good life. That is why we want to share the knowledge that we have in the field. We do this in the form of voluntary work and together with non-profit organisations, and every year we reach thousands of children and young people with our activities.

Throughout the year Nordea employees are busy at schools and educational institutions sharing their knowledge about, for example, expenses, budgeting and savings, and also explaining the basics of an account and a cash card. Something that Nordea has solid experience in as we have been collaborating with schools for many years. 

"Our financial skills programme is our longest running, in Sweden in stretches back to 2008. The idea behind the programme is that good financial skills enable better financial decisions, which is why we focus on the youngest making sure that even children understand finances,” says Anna Kosonen, Head of Community Engagement at Nordea.

 

It is never too early or late to learn about finances, and improving financial skills can have a positive impact on reaching own goals.

Anna Kosonen, Head of Community Engagement at Nordea.

Anna Kosonen explains that there of course are some essential basic mathematic skills you need to have in place in order to build financial skills. But already when you have learned to add and subtract, you can understand the value of money and learn how to budget. And when you have learned about percentages, you are ready to learn about, for example, loans and savings.

CEO Ellen Eriksson of Mattecentrum also believes that it’s highly important to start early. Together with Nordea, Mattecentrum supports Ekonomipejl and www.ekonomikoll.se, a new platform developed jointly. 

“The partnership between Mattecentrum and Nordea signifies our shared vision to enhance young people's knowledge of economics and mathematics. By building a dedicated website for young people to learn more about economics and mathematics, we are not only improving their academic skills but also equipping them for a successful future where financial understanding is crucial,” she says and adds: 

“Nordea's employees, who participate as volunteers for Mattecentrum, also become invaluable role models for young individuals striving for more knowledge of mathematics. This partnership is an investment in the next generation and a fundamental step towards creating a more financially knowledgeable and independent societal structure.”

We wanted to show you a video but you cannot see it as you have not enabled cookies

Click here to update your consent

About Mattecentrum

Mattecentrum is a Swedish non-profit organisation aiming to stimulate students' interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The mission of the organisation is to work for equal opportunities to learn, improve students' knowledge of maths and stimulate their interest in mathematics. Mattecentrum arranges tutoring sessions, so-called ”maths labs”, in cities all over Sweden where students are offered help with their homework by volunteers and also offers several free online resources. 

Read more

In the Finnish learning concept Yrityskylä financial skills are also seen as a competence that should be continuously trained and developed. In Yrityskylä children are to spend a day in a purpose-built miniature town as employees, consumers and citizens. The concept is driven by Junior Achievement Finland, which we’ve been collaborating with for over ten years as we have been one of Yrityskylä’s first partners. 

“Through our successful cooperation with Nordea we can support the financial, work-life, and entrepreneurial skills of thousands of young people annually,” says CEO Kaisa Koistinen.

Nordea's activities towards children and young people are part of Nordea's community engagement where we also support startups and help refugees getting settled into new societies. The thinking behind is that financial skills could and should be built throughout life. 

“It is never too early or late to learn about finances, and improving financial skills can have a positive impact on reaching own goals. Financial understanding is the basis for sound risk assessment, for understanding the long-term impact of decisions and also for making you confident when you later in life meet financial documents like loan terms and investment agreements. Managing your own economy well is about taking care of your own future,” concludes Anna Kosonen.

About Yrityskylä

Junior Achievement Finland’s Yrityskylä is a Finnish learning module that has received an award as the best education innovation in the world. It provides sixth and ninth graders with positive experiences of working life, the economy, entrepreneurship and society. The module consists of training for teachers, Yrityskylä’s lessons and an experiential day in our learning environment. Best of all, Yrityskylä is based on the core national curriculum and has proven to be effective. 

Read more
About 90% of all sixth and ninth graders in Finland participate in Junior Achievement Finland’s Yrityskylä.

How to talk to your child about finances?

As a parent, you know best when your child is ready to discuss finances. Anna Kosonen suggests below topics as a starting point:

  • What is the cost of living?
  • What is necessary and what is not? – the difference between need and want
  • How to set financial goals as these will motivate budgeting and saving and have a long term-impact on financial well-being
  • The impact of time on savings and loans
Financial skills
Volunteering
Economic Outlook

Economic Outlook

Ready for 2025? Join our Nordea Economic Outlook webinar

Get valuable insights from our Group Chief Economist Helge J. Pedersen when he presents a new Nordea Economic Outlook, with our latest analyses and projections for the Nordic and global economies.

Read more
Family having fun in winter

Nordea

Nordea to donate EUR 200,000 to research with focus on biodiversity impact in the Nordic countries

Nordea’s donation will support the University of Jyväskylä four-year research programme in developing open-access methods for assessing the biodiversity footprint of economic activities. The research will address challenges and opportunities in assessing the biodiversity dependency and impact of economic activity in the Nordic countries, with local as well as global value chains.

Read more
Axel Hellström, medgrundare Ebbot

Entrepreneurship

AI company speed-dated investors – “A fantastic door-opener!”

A company that has made strong advances in automating the service processes segment is Swedish AI company Ebbot. Recently, they attended tech event Slush in Helsinki, where they took part in Nordea Investor Speed Dating. “It had a tangible impact for us,” explains Axel Hellström at Ebbot.

Read more