They may seem too young to be venturing into the stock market but speak to them and you will be amazed by their new perspectives on how the stock market works and how to participate in it! We are talking about none other than our Grade 11 participants of the Planspiel Börse exercise.
Thanks to Planspiel Börse, a stock market investment game organised by the German Savings Banks, these Grade 11 economics students had the chance to experience the workings of the stock market first-hand and see their knowledge come alive.
With € 50, 000 in play money and the chance to experiment with real-time stocks within a fixed period of time, there was so much the students could do. Within their teams, the students collaborated to study and purchase shares, and there was also a competitive element as the various groups were ranked against each other in terms of their losses and gains.
So, how did the students fare? We sat down for a chat with a couple of the participants to hear about the entire experience from their point of view.
Experience, Highlights and Key-Learning Points?
While some of the students found the activity challenging at first due to their limited knowledge of the stock market, all of them agreed that this experience has been enriching and quite a learning journey.
For Sofia Kreitz and Alyssa Koechli, who, together with teammate Maxime Koempel formed one group, Planspiel Börse was merely a game when they first knew about it, but when they started playing it, it started to feel more and more real, such that they started paying keen attention to the risks involved.
They could feel the anticipation, euphoria and disappointment with every rise and fall of their investments.
Sofia: Although it was just a game for us at first, it began to feel real when we started playing it! One of our main highlights was being able to learn something new with friends without being too afraid of damaging consequences because we were not playing with real money.
Maxime: This was what made it fun and entertaining. If we were really playing with real money, we would have been a lot more stressed out as we realise that investing could be very risky, and we could lose money.
Alyssa: Yes, there was not going to be any real loss for us so we only gained from this experience, and it was really exciting because we could feel everything, from risks to excitement, first-hand!
Two other students, Kira Fraunhoffer and Minxuan Soh, worked together as a pair. They too started with very minimal knowledge of the stock market but learnt the ropes very quickly.
They spoke with amazement in their voices when they recounted how they witnessed their stock value go up exponentially when the US election results came out. This landed them in first-place in November, when just before, their stocks were plummeting for 2 weeks straight. This allowed them to understand the risks and volatility of the stock market. When asked about their experience with the game, this was what they had to say:
Kira: I knew about the game because my cousin played it before and I was really excited to experience it myself! I enjoyed the experience I had with Planspiel Börse so much that I even paid close attention to it at home!
Minxuan: This is a really good way to get youths like us to be interested in stocks, finance and the market. This topic may seem bland at first, but it is very interesting once you get to do it because you really get into it.
What were your key strategies?
These two teams were at the top of their game when we interviewed them, and to get there, effective strategies were necessary. It was interesting to hear how two very different strategies were utilised and we really enjoyed finding out their reasons for using them!
Kira: When it comes to investing, we should be patient and not give up easily because we can never tell what is going to happen next. We cannot be guessing.
Minxuan: We were learning as we played the game but one of our strategies would be listening to our teachers. Our teachers talked about sustainability and companies like Nike and Tesla which are big on sustainability and that benefitted us.
Alyssa: We did not have a lot of time since this took place over 3 months, so we decided to use a risky strategy and use almost all our money to make bigger investments in just a small pool of about 5 companies instead of safer, smaller investments in many companies and hoped that their stock prices would go up. This was risky as there was a 50% chance of losing our money. Keeping track of which stocks and shares were going up and down also helped.
How is this experience valuable and useful to you, especially for the future?
The students all agreed that this experience has been extremely valuable to them in that it is both unique and very applicable in the real world. While some of them anticipate being able to invest in the real stock market in the future, others are now more cognizant of the risks that come with investing and are grateful for these nuggets of financial literacy!
Kira and Minxuan, for instance, foresee themselves utilising what they have learnt from this experience in the future.
Kira: I think that when I am older and earning my own money on a stable basis, I will invest my own money in the stock market and profit from it personally. I am also interested in studying Finance in University and this experience will help me in the future.
Minxuan: Investment and stocks is a common topic among many, and it will serve as a conversation starter with strangers and perhaps future colleagues, especially since we know a lot more about it now.
For Alyssa, Maxime and Sophia, they feel that this experience has enriched them greatly and will help them to keep more options open for their future endeavours, especially when they start to decide what they would like to pursue subsequently.
Maxime: It has helped me to understand more about today’s economy and given me an extra bit of knowledge to work with.
