The Icelandic Financial Services Association (Samtök fjármálafyrirtækja, SFF) has been running a program called ‘Wise Finance’ for five years. The program provides early secondary schools with free educational material on finance for secondary school students (ages 13-15). Schools receive classroom visits from employees of financial service providers so that young people can learn about personal finance. The educational material is primarily based on the textbook “First Steps in Finance.” The main objective of Wise finance is to inspire teachers to impart financial knowledge and to provide them with free, relevant, and high-quality educational material. Furthermore, all activities and educational material are branded as Wise finance; there is no promotion of the companies involved.
Icelandic children are legally allowed to work, and most 15-year-olds have a part-time job (babysitting, mowing lawns, working in supermarkets, etc.). The ability to manage their first income is of great relevance to them. Administered by the Ministry of Education, financial education is a compulsory subject in the early years of secondary school (ages 13-15).
