Financial Decisions and Optimism: The Future Is Uncertain, But It Can Be Good!

Professor: Prof. Dr. Michael Feucht
Authors: Daphne Auner, Annika Egner, Oceana Kamga
Date: 17.06.2025

“The one who has heaps of money can speculate; the one with little money must not speculate; the one with even less money must speculate.”
– André Kostolany (Hungarian stock market and finance expert)

This week’s seminar session by Michael Feucht was all about money, money, money! This lecture challenged our perception of money and gave us an overview over possibilities for investing in our future.

Postage Stamps and Food-stamps, Bitcoin – What is money anyway?

Imagine walking into a café and trying to buy a latte with a handful of rare postage stamps. The barista would likely give you a puzzled look. But why? The stamps have value printed on them, don’t they? This simple question leads us to explore what makes money money?

Here are a few definitions we came up with in the seminar:

Medium used to exchange things of equal value
Trust (in the system and the belief that this piece of paper can buy you a coffee)

For this system to work, money needs to fulfill three key properties:

Divisibility: Can it be split into smaller parts?
Acceptance: Do people agree to take it as payment?
Value Stability: Will its purchasing power vanish overnight? (hello, inflation!)

Based on these properties, which of the pictures below do you think is (central bank) money?

Fun fact: Even though Germany ditched the Mark for the Euro years ago, you can still exchange German Marks at the Bundesbank today. France, on the other hand, no longer offers this service—meaning old French Francs are just colourful paper. So hang onto those Marks (if you have any)—they still have value!

Cash in the Digital Age

How much cash do you have with you right now? Surveys show that our wallets are getting lighter as we prefer swiping cards (or phones). Sure, cash offers anonymity and makes spending feel real, but it is easy to lose and earns no interest.

In our seminar, we had a lively discussion around this topic:

Do we spend more when paying with a card or phone instead of cash?

So what’s your opinion? Which one makes it easier to spend, cash or card?

In fact, most of our money isn’t physical at all. It’s mostly virtual, digital entries on a server at your bank. Only a portion of bank money exists as cash, the rest is only virtual money.

Money is, at its core, a system built entirely on trust and stability. Take this wild historical example: In 1923, Germany experienced one of the worst cases of hyperinflation ever recorded. In August, a liter of milk cost around 110,000 Marks. In September, just one month later, that same liter cost 8 million Marks. Prices jumped 70 times in 30 days. Prof. Feucht told us he found a full crate of these bills in his grandparents basement. Because the money was so worthless, it was just left there.

This story might sound like a history class anecdote, but it highlights an important truth: money only works because we believe in it. It’s a promise we all collectively agree to trust. If that trust breaks down, the whole system can collapse.

Planning for the Future: Insurance & Savings

Feeling inspired to start investing or change your finances? Hold that thought! First, read this quick but important disclaimer:

Let’s talk about some practical tools for financial stability. There are a few types of insurances everyone should seriously consider:

Health insurance – a must-have and usually required by law in Germany.
Private liability insurance – protects you if you accidentally cause damage or injury.
Occupational disability insurance – especially important once you start working, in case you can’t continue due to illness or accident.

Another important tool for financial stability is saving and investing money. It’s not just about being cautious – saving gives you a buffer for emergencies, you can use it for your retirement or you leave something behind for the next generation.

You’ve got a few solid options for how to save or invest:

Through your bank – savings accounts, checking accounts, or fixed-term deposits.
→ Good to know: In Germany (and most of the EU), your money is protected up to €100,000 per person per bank—even if the bank fails.
Financial products – like shares, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs (exchange-traded funds), or derivatives. Just keep in mind: the higher the potential return, the higher the risk.
Real investments – such as property, land, or precious metals. These often feel more “real” to people and can hold value over time, though they come with their own challenges.

Interesting Investing Insight

One thing we really took away from the seminar: Stock picking sounds exciting but isn’t always smart. “You can’t outsmart the stock market,” as the saying goes.

*Zoom Stock since IPO in 2019 at the adjusted closing price*

Take Zoom, for example. During the COVID-19 pandemic, its stock skyrocketed from around $70 to $475. Sounds like a dream investment, right? But by the time you notice a “hot stock,” millions of others probably already have—and bought in. That hype drives up prices, which often means you’re buying at the peak.

How does this benefit me?

All this information is nice and all, but you’re probably wondering what use it is to you personally. Well, we’ll tell you! These are the things we figured everyone should know for life:

You don’t actually need every insurance there is. Rule of thumb: If you can pay for it out of pocket without getting into financial problems, maybe don’t get that one. Especially since getting them to pay for something can be a struggle sometimes.
If you want to start saving or investing (which you should), always leave an emergency fund easily accessible. Life happens.
There are different kinds of saving money. Are you up to some risks or want to avoid them? Do you want to access your money spontaneously or can it be stuck in your investment? Find what works for you, even small sums can make a big difference.
While investing be optimistic, but also realistic. The stock market in particular takes time and patience and there will be ups and downs. Play the long game.
On the topic of stocks: a diversified index will beat inflation in the long run.

A world without money – utopia or impossible?

First a throwback to pre-money times: People would trade what they grew for things they needed, right? How would that work today for a bank clerk? Or real estate agents? How would they pay for things? Would their jobs even exist? And even a fisher or a farmer needs to trade their goods before they go bad. Would this system be equal for all? If you’re good at bartering, clearly you have an advantage.

So simply reversing things would not be the way to go, especially since CEOs would probably have opinions about that as well. Maybe science fiction will have some clues. Did you ever notice that there’s no money shown in ‘Star Trek’? Or in ‘The Host’? Does that mean a world without money is only possible in the distant future? Or not even for humans at all? No one knows.

Sometimes it is hard to plan for the future in a world that seems to get more difficult day by day. It just doesn’t seem like a priority. But everything is uncertain and you never know how its gonna turn out, do you? So we thought we should prepare not only for the worst but also the best case scenario. Because we try to stay optimistic – even if its hard sometimes.

But as this session told us: The future is uncertain – but it can be good.

Sources and further material:

Fun fact: did you know the EZB is working to create a digital euro?
- https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.de.html
Book: If you want to dig deeper into this topic, here is a great book as an introduction into the world of personal finance and investing:
- The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel
TED Talk: Also, if you are more of the movie instead of book type, here is an interesting video on this topic:
- How to start investing—responsibly | Thomas Kehl | TEDxHSGSalon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXjHwQ6J_yI)

Sources of the pictures used in the blog (click to open drop down menu):