“Schulgold” workshop: Our commitment to financial education
News 14.07.2025
While the foundations for money and budget management are laid in childhood and adolescence, there is usually no room for this important topic in the classroom. Deutsche Börse Commodities, the issuer of Xetra-Gold, has a long-standing commitment to promoting projects for children and young people. We are therefore extremely enthusiastic about the ‘Schulgold’ project (which translates to “School Gold”), as it more specifically aims to foster young people’s financial education. Together with local educators, the founders of the project, Karolina Deckert and Babette Mahnert, coach children and young people to close this gap and empower them to lead financially independent lives.
Understanding money, shaping the future
We therefore jumped at the opportunity to sponsor and experience a workshop day. At the SBBZ (State Special Education and Counselling Center in Neckargemünd, Germany), around 20 students in Years 9 and 10 took part in the workshop led by Babette Mahnert and teacher Jana Meister. A huge thank you to both for the insight into their impressive work and an extremely well-organized day of fun and learning!
The workshop focused on three key topics relevant for young people:
Easy budget planning: keeping track of income and expenses, offsetting fixed expenses against a monthly income
Pay slips explained: understanding gross and net income, taxes and deductions, overcoming fears of topics such as health insurance, pension and tax returns
The basics of loans: consumer and overdraft loans, interest, German credit rating agency Schufa, and late notice
Financial know-how: Tools to prevent debt and poverty in old age
From specific tips on how to handle money and invest it to information on government education subsidies, such as scholarships, German BAföG for students or BAB for trainees, the workshop brought a light touch to contemporary financial topics. The aim of the workshops is to demonstrate simple financial structures for everyday life and to strengthen the self-confidence of participants, empowering them to take on social responsibility in the long term by showing them how money plays a central role as a means of doing good.
With their innovative concept of interactive financial workshops, the founders of Schulgold, who have over 35 years of combined experience in the financial sector, have already reached thousands of schoolchildren. Their message is conveyed through practical tasks which participants are encouraged to independently research and discuss, with the ultimate goal of preparing them for the financial challenges of life.
Further information and participant feedback:
