Content Area: Career Education and Consumer, Family, and Life Skills

 

Index: 9.2E Grade 12 CPI 4

 

Standard: 9.2 - Consumer, Family, and Life Skills

 

Strand: E - Consumer and Personal Finance

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 4 -  The student will prepare and use skills for budget preparation, making predictions about income and expenditures, income tax preparation, and adjusting spending or expectations based on analysis.

 

Grade: 12

 

Sample Activities:

 

·       A public relations firm has been hired to develop and produce a documentary alerting young adults to the need for fiscal responsibility when using credit cards. As an employee, you have been asked to develop a five-minute demo for the client.

 

·       An individual wants to select a career pathway….in an area of interest for future employment and postsecondary and lifelong learning.

 

·       YOU CAN'T LIVE ON CREDIT: Students investigate various credit card offers, look at annual percentage rates, restrictions and annual fees, and decide which type of credit card, if any, might be appropriate for people at various stages of their lives (e.g., college students, young professional, family, senior citizen). Students share the information and design a pamphlet for teenagers based on the information.

 

      Variation: You can buy just about anything on credit. Write on slips of paper items that might be purchased using a loan or credit card (e.g., car, house, stereo, vacation). Students select an item, determine the cost over time or with credit, and report to the class.

 

·       Ask students about their shopping habits. Do they save allowance or earnings to be able to make large purchases? Do they borrow from a friend or family member? Do they take money out of the bank; or do they use a credit card to make large purchases? On the board, make a list of possible ways to come up with money for purchases, include the advantages and disadvantages of each, and the costs of their choice. Show the students that by saving their allowances or paychecks, they do not have to pay more than the purchase price. If they borrow money from a friend or family member, they might have to pay interest. If they use a credit card, they might have to pay interest.

What is interest? Define principal, rate, and time. Explain that by paying the amount due in full, students will not have to pay interest. But…what if they pay over time? Go over several examples of determining interest (finance charges).

 

·       Have a local bank representative come in and discuss personal loans, credit cards, and the dollar cost of credit with the class.

 

·       What are your rights as consumers? What are the laws that protect you? Distribute a handout of various laws protecting consumers and discuss the laws. On the board, compare and contrast methods of computing finance charges. Bring in several examples of credit card applications and compare the different methods of computing finance charges.

Teacher will produce examples of people paying their bills in full, paying minimum balances, and paying two times the minimum balance, to show the effect of various payments on the overall cost of credit.

 

·       Upon completion of the student’s personal financial plan, students will continue with the simulation (characteristics given), and work on monthly budgets which will include things such as household events ranging from roof repair to children’s birthday parties (it is easy for any teacher to use personal experiences). This will be an ongoing activity throughout the year.

 

·       Once the students have manually completed the monthly budget, they will learn the QUICKEN program and put the information on the computer.

 

·       Using the household information from the personal financial plan, students will create a monthly budget over a six month period. The budget information will be input into a DOME budget book. Students will receive a monthly statement of their income and any variable expenses that may arise. All information will be input into the budget book and a variance will be calculated for all items.

 

·       Students will develop a budget for either the yearbook club or any large club that requires deposits and payouts throughout the year. Students will assist the club members in figuring out how much must be fundraised in order to be able to pay final bills such as a publisher, prom location, etc. This should be ongoing from the beginning of the year.

 

·       At the end of a six month period, the students will prepare income and expense reports through the use of Quicken to evaluate their budget. Students will double their numbers (to get a realistic annual number) and prepare to complete their tax returns. Students will determine which tax form their “household” will be able to use. Students will manually prepare their household tax return. If available, students should also use a computerized tax program to complete their tax return.

 

·       See the website http://www.ny.frb.org/education/taxes/taxes_5.html.

 

·       Does Your Money Really Grow On Trees?

 

·       Understanding Credit and Selecting a Credit Card

 

·       Understanding Stocks & Investment Portfolio

 

·       Understanding Tax Terminology and Calculating Taxes Using the 1040EZ Form