Unit Title: Understanding The Importance Of Personal Finance

Subject: Personal Finance

Teacher(s): Ms. Smith, Ms. Balliet

School: Bloomsburg University

I. Overview:

In order for students to achieve financial success, it is important to understand the background information related to personal finance. Due to the fluctuating economy students need to be able to identify financial objectives, understand the importance of financial planning, and become familiar with different ways of investing. This will allow students to effectively plan out their financial future. The majority of the information for this unit plan can be found at http://bus.utk.edu/finance/black.htm

II: Topics to be covered:

The following topics will be discussed concerning personal finance:

1. Types of financial objectives

2. Managing cash and savings

3. Managing credit

4. Dimensions of credit cards

5. Various consumer loans

6. Areas of investment

II. Student Performance Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1. Orally identify issues related personal finance such as the following: importance of personal finance, issues with managing cash and savings, fundamentals of managing credit, and the concepts of credit cards.

2. Identify different areas related to personal finance using class activities, worksheets, case studies, etc.

3. Present to the class the reasons why or why not a specific credit card is a wise investment choice.

III. Outline of Unit

I. Understanding the Importance of Personal Finance

A. Financial Objectives

1. Immediate Goals

2. Long-Term Goals

B. Work

1. Controlling Your Financial Life

2. What To Do With Your Paycheck

A. Spending vs. Saving

3. The Importance of Saving

C. Going To College

1. College Graduates vs. High School Graduates

2. Increased Skill In The Workplace

D. Insurance

1. Health And Disability Insurance

2. Life Insurance

II. Managing Cash And Savings

A. Cash

1. Checking Accounts

2. ATMS

3. Debit Cards

B. Savings

1. Statement Savings

2. CD’s

3. Money Market Accounts

4. Money Market Mutual Funds

C. Choosing A Bank

1. Convenience

2. Costs

3. Services

III. Managing Credit

A. Buy and Paying on Credit

B. How To Establish Credit

C. How to Manage Your Credit.

D. Bankruptcy

E. Credit Bureaus And How They Work

1. Credit Evaluation

2. Credit Scoring

IV. Credit Cards

A. Types Of Credit Cards

1. Bank Cards

2. Travel And Entertainment Cards

3. Single Merchant Cards

B. Interest Charges

C. Annual Fees

D. The Pros And Cons Of Credit Cards.

V. Consumer Loans

A. Types of Loans

1. Installment Loans

2. Secured Loans

3. Unsecured Loans

4. Interest Rate

B. Houses/Apartments

1. Purchasing vs. Renting

2. Searching for Houses

3. Issues Related To Renting

4. Issues Related To Purchasing

5. Financing

6. Mortgages and Homeowners Insurance

VI. Investments

A. What Is Investing?

B. Risk and Return

C. Different Types of Investment

1. Savings Instruments

2. Stocks and Bonds

3. Mutual Funds

IV. Learning Activities

1. Given a classroom discussion, students will explain the importance of personal finance in their lives.

2. Students will individually complete a worksheet that emphasizes the need for different types of insurance

3. In groups, students will use worksheets that allow them to identify the different ways of managing cash and savings.

4. Students will complete a group activity that reinforces the issues related to managing credit such as the following: buying and paying on credit, how to establish credit, etc.

5. Through implementation of the learning center, students will present to the class the negative and positive aspects of specific available credit cards.

6. In groups students will create a personal finance plan using a scenario provided for them by the finance plan guidelines. Students will create this plan incorporating all areas of personal finance that is covered throughout this unit.

Reference materials

“Personal finance and financial planning: A web-assisted approach.” http://bus.utk.edu/finance/black/htm

“Jump Start Coalition.” http://www.jumpstart.org/principles.cfm

“Credit Counselors of America.” http://www.ccoa.org/TPFa.htm

“Investigating Investments.” http://www.plan.ml.com/family/teachers/investact.html

National Standards for Business Education, “Economics and Personal Finance - Personal Finance.” Reston, VA: National Business Education Association, 2001.

Supplementary materials

In-class computers with Internet availability (at least 30)

Case studies

Handouts

Worksheets

Transparencies

Power point presentation

Overhead projector

Poster paper

Markers

Thumbtacks

Multi-colored “post-it” notes

Current News Papers

Contingency Plan

If computers are not available within the classrooms, then students will be given time in the lab.

If the Internet is not available, then teacher will need to bring in the classified section of various newspapers for some activities.

If the Internet is down and the activity can absolutely not be completed, have a worksheet on hand for students to complete.

Supplementary Materials

PowerPoint Presentation/Transparencies

Worksheet on Insurance

Blank notebook paper

At least 30 computers with Internet capability

Overhead projector

Subject: Personal Finance

Lesson: Introduction to Personal Finance: The Importance of Personal Finance

Date: November 26, 2002

Period: One

Objectives:

At the end of classroom lectures, discussions and activities students will be able to:

1. Identify financial objectives immediate and long-term in compliance with the teacher’s key.

2. Based on what was covered in class, describe ways that you can control your financial life in a brief paragraph according to the teacher’s key.

3. Explain the differences in the workplace for a college graduate and a high school graduate using a worksheet provided by the teacher.

4. Differentiate between the different types of insurance (and their importance for financial success) upon reading different case studies in compliance with the answer key.

Introduction:

State the following scenario to the students:

“Your uncle recently decided to give you $1000.00 cash. The money is yours to do anything you wish.”

Tell students to take out a sheet of paper and write a brief paragraph discussing what they would do with this money. Have students then share their choices with the class.

Tell the students “what you chose to do with your money greatly affects your personal finance. Therefore, we will discuss the importance of this in class today.”

Procedures and Content:

1. What is personal finance? Can anyone tell me what he or she thinks personal finance is?

After students have volunteered their answers, provide students with the actual definition. (Begin using power point presentation or transparencies; see appendix A)

2. Let’s talk about financial objectives and what they mean for you.

· Immediate Goals

· Long-Term Goals

· Provide definitions and examples for both types of goals. (Using either power point presentation or transparencies.)

· 3. How do you feel you can control your financial life?

· Talk with students about how working can help them to control their financial freedom and life.

· Have a classroom discussion about what you can do with your paycheck. Spending it all vs. saving some for another time.

· Use to students how they can use this to control their financial life.

5.College Graduates vs. high school Graduates

· Have a discussion with students about the difference in wage earning potential with respect to jobs that require a high school diploma versus a college degree and ultimately the effect this can have on their savings.

· Students will now begin the “hotjobs” Internet activity. (See assignment #1)

6.Insurance

· Introduce students to the three different types of insurance: health, disability, and life through the use of power point presentations or transparencies. Proceed with lesson by giving students examples of when each type of insurance would be needed and how it could potentially protect them financially.

· Student will now be given the Insurance worksheet. This paper must be completed for homework due the following day. (See assignment #2. See Appendix B for Insurance Worksheet and Teachers Key)

Assignment:

#1. Students will log onto the network and access the following website: www.hotjobs.com. Students will be given 15 minutes to explore the site and locate two jobs that interest them. One choice must require a college degree and the other only a high school diploma. Also, students must find the potential salary for each of their job choices. Students will receive participation points for this assignment according to teacher’s observation.

#2. Students will be given an insurance worksheet that they will complete for homework. Student will be required to read over the different case studies provided at the top of the worksheet. For each study, students must provide the type of insurance referenced and the necessity of the insurance. This assignment will be evaluated according to the teacher’s key with a point value of 15 points.

#3. The students will participate in a class discussion that will close the lesson for the day (See Summary). Students will be assessed on how they recall information for the day’s lecture. The student will be awarded participation points according to the teacher’s observation.

Summary:

To summarize class for the day the students will join in on a class discussion about how they feel about the importance of personal finance. The students will be asked to refer back to material that was gone over in the class lecture to support their answers. The students will be asked how they plan to take hold of their financial life.

Evaluation:

The students will be assessed through the teacher’s observation. The teacher will observe the students during the class lecture for attentiveness and participation. The teacher will observe the students during the summary activity for participation and recall of information form the lecture. Students will be evaluated for the worksheet according to the teacher’s key.

Student Learning Center

Unit: Introduction to Personal Finance

Lesson: Establishing Good Credit

Learning Center Name: THE MONEY TREE

Objectives: Given a credit card application, students will orally express to the class the pros and cons of that particular card to be graded according to the rubric.

Materials: Bulletin board, large tree cut out from construction paper, thumbtacks, and credit card applications (supplied by both students and teacher)

Procedures:

-Students and teacher will gather different credit card applications from the local retailers. Applications will be tacked up on the board.

-Once the lesson on credit cards and managing your credit has been taught, students will get the opportunity to chose an application off the “Money Tree”

-Students will have a few days to prepare an oral 5 minute presentation in which they discuss with the class both the pros and cons of their particular credit card

DENOTED VARIOUS CREDIT CARD APPLICATIONS

THE MONEY TREE -Students will be graded according to the rubric (See appendix)

SAMPLE LEARNING CENTER LAYOUT:

Learning Center

Rubric for oral presentation

Presenter’s name ________________________________________

Length of presentation _____________

Category	Excellent 5 points	Good 4-3 points	Satisfactory 2 points	Needs Improvement 1-0 points
Comprehension of subject matter	Student is able to name 2 valid pros and 2 valid cons with respect to classroom lectures	Student names 2 pros and 2 cons however, the reasoning is not in accordance with previously learned material	Student names only 1 valid pro and 1 valid con; the reasoning is okay	Student doesn’t state any valid pros or cons; no evidence of learned concept
Content	Showed a full understanding of credit cards; used proper terminology	Showed a good understanding of the topic; some terminology present	Parts of the presentation displayed understanding of the topic	No showing of any understanding of the topic or subject terminology
Time-Limit	Presentation is 5 minutes long	Presentation was only 4 minutes long	Presentation was in the 3 minute range	Presentation was only 1-2 minutes
Listens to other presentations	Listens to peers; is respectful and undisruptive	Listens to peers but appears restless and uninterested	Appears to not be listening at all but isn’t talking out loud	Disruptive behavior; talking to friends, tapping on desk, etc.

Total Possible Points: 20

Points earned: _________

Cooperative Learning Activity

Subject:

The subject of this cooperative learning activity is the Importance of Personal Finance in every day life.

Purpose:

The purpose of this group activity is to give the student a better understanding of the importance of personal finance in their present and future lives.

Procedures:

Students will be broken up into six groups consisting of four to five students in a group depending on class size. Each student will be given a color post-it there will be six different color post-it’s representing the six different groups (red, blue, yellow, orange, pink, and green). The students that receive the red post-it’s will be in the red group, the blue post-it’s the blue group and so on. Modifications can be made to the groups at the teacher’s discretion.

Each group will be given a copy of the Personal Finance Plan guidelines. Each group will be given a different scenario that they will use to develop their personal finance plan. The group will have to work together to develop a personal finance plan. This plan will have to developed the plan according to the guidelines using information that was learned throughout the unit. This activity will be the culminating activity for this Unit. Students will be asked to pull in content from each area of the unit. Students will be given time in class and time in the computer lab (if needed) to complete this project. The students will not be asked to work on this project outside of classroom time. Students should be allotted five classroom days to complete this project. The students will use different resources for this project. Students will use the Internet, Newspapers, the learning center; information from class lessons and any other resource that they feel is necessary to complete this assignment.

Each group will designate a group leader. The group leader will be responsible for keeping the group on track and coordinating the activities for the plan. The facilitator will be required to keep the teacher informed of the groups progress. This can be done through a verbal update during classroom time when the students are working on the project or through e-mail.

Students will be required to orally present their plan to the class. Students are required to use visuals of their choice (power point/posters/transparencies) for their presentation and each student in the group must play an active role in the presentation.

Materials

· 30 computers in class or in the computer lab with Internet access.