Overview

Once students understand the basics of finances, they’ll be able to make informed decisions for their future, including those about post-secondary schooling, job salaries, and banking options. This time is for students to understand how finances work in the world and begin to see how they might use them to further their goals. There is a wide variety of resources, from beginning vocabulary to calculating retirement investment returns.

Objectives

Students should be able to:

1. Create a budget and financial goals;
2. Understand the similarities and differences of several types of financial accounts, such as checking, savings, retirement, investment, loan, credit cards, and debit cards;
3. Consider the pros and cons involved in money management decisions (CDs vs. stocks, credit vs. debit, IRA vs. 401k, renting vs. owning, loan types, financial aid options, etc.);
4. Evaluate which money management account or strategy best fits a given situation, and
5. Take precautions against scams, fraud, and identity theft.

Introductory Questions

1. What experience do you have with managing money?
   Have you had a job, do you have an allowance, do you get money as presents from family, etc.? Do you have to ask to spend money or do you have your own that you use? How do your friends or family talk about money?
2. How do you feel when you think about managing money now?
3. How do you feel when you think about managing money in the future, as an adult?
4. What do you want money to provide for you in the future?
   Consider items (a laptop, a dishwasher), achievements (earning a PhD, traveling to Patagonia), and feelings (comfort, excitement).

Suggested Class Sequence(s)
Class sequences are connected topics with activities, worksheets, and readings which take two or more days of class to complete.

To access the plans and activities from Next Gen Personal Finance, you can use the links below. To access the paired exit tickets and assessments, you’ll need to create an account with Next Gen Personal Finance. It’s free for instructors and takes 24-48 hours to be approved.

• Budgeting Basics
  Recommended activities: Budgeting basics, budgeting strategies, budgeting for food, budgeting challenges, and build a budget.
• Banking
  Recommended activities: Intro to banking, checking accounts, savings accounts, beware of banking fees, strategies to save, and challenges to saving.
• Types of Credit
  Recommended activities: Intro to credit, young people and credit cards, using credit wisely, loan fundamentals, and when to use credit.
• Consumer Skills
  Recommended activities: Your money and social media, online shopping pitfalls, identity theft, and scams & fraud.
• Taxes
  Recommended activities: Taxes and your paystub, teens and taxes, how to file your taxes, and completing the 1040.