Personal Finance Reading and Comprehension, Math, and Sim Game! (Flex/Semester)
In this 20-week semester flex course, students will use an interactive platform to learn about various personal finance topics through reading/comprehension quizzes, math quizzes, and a fun simulation at the end of each lesson.
Brooke Martinez
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:(37)
What's included
Assessment
Reading Quiz Math Quiz Simulation ScoreClass Experience
This semester flex course will cover time and health management, finding a job, paying your taxes, education and advancement, finding an apartment, buying a car, shopping, budgeting and saving, choosing and balancing a checking account, using online banking, getting a credit card, fixing your credit, intro to investing, risk vs. return, diversification, investing for retirement, buying a home, and insurance . This course will be filled with hands-on learning! My course is a great way to prepare students for handling their own finances! Many learners start with little knowledge about handling finances. After the course, they will grow to enjoy learning about money and will be much more confident in their finances! This course will include reading, reading comprehension quiz, math quiz, and a simulation game for each lesson. I'm a firm believer in creating engaging learning experiences. I'm excited to begin a journey of discovering finances with your learner! Students will collaborate through the Outschool platform through an end of semester simulation project where they will compete to hit net worth targets which can be achieved by following through on all the lessons they’ve learned throughout the course. Agenda: Week 1: Simulation Tutorial and Math Concepts Reference *Simulation Tutorial *Review Math Concepts (percentages, compound growth, probability & statistics, single variable equations, geometry) Week 2: Time Management and Health *Time Management *Living a Balanced Life *Getting Enough Sleep and Relaxation *Time Management and Stress *Getting Enough Exercise *Nutrition and Good Eating Habits *The Economics of Healthy Living Week 3: Finding a Job *Career Vs. Job *Training and Education *Resume and Cover Letter *The Job Interview *Success in the Workplace Week 4: Paying Your Taxes *What is Income Tax? *Who is the Federal Government? *What Does It Use Taxes For? *How and When Do I Pay My Taxes? *What Forms Do I Use? *What Happens if I Don’t Pay My Taxes or I Misreport Income? *Should I Do My Own Taxes? *Filing Your TAxes Online *Will I Get a Tax Refund? Week 5: Education and Advancement *Planning Your Career *What Are Your Interests, Aptitudes, and Abilities? *Setting Goals *Going to College *Non-College Job Training *Internships, Apprenticeships, and Cooperative Education *Paying for Your Education or Training Week 6: Finding and Apartment *Choosing an Apartment *Where to Look for an Apartment *Location, Location, Location *How Much Should an Apartment Cost? *Utilities and Unexpected Costs *Signing a Lease *Renters Insurance *Tenants’ Rights Week 7: Buying a Car *A Car Means Convenience *Which Car Is Right for You? *New or Used? *Kinds of Cars *Car Insurance *Lots of Lots: Where to Find a Car *Owning versus Leasing *What Do Lenders Look For? *Operation and Maintenance Week 8: Shopping *Why Do We Shop? *So Many Options; How Do You Choose? *Research Your Purchase, Not Just Your Paper *Become a Comparison Shopper *Agencies that Protect Consumers *Before you Go Shopping, Know Your Rights Week 9: Budgeting and Saving *Managing Your Money *Estimating Income and Expenses *Reaching Your Financial Goals *Preparing a Budget *Saving for the Unexpected *Saving for the Future Week 10: Choosing and Balancing a Checking Account *How Do I Open a Checking Account? *Checking Account Options *Checking Accounts for Newbies *Points, Reward, and Free Stuff *Balancing Your Checkbook *ATM Cards and Electronic Banking Week 11: Using Online Banking *Pros and Cons of Online Banking *What Can I Do with Online Banking? *Protecting Yourself Online Week 12: Getting a Credit Card *What is Credit? *What is a Credit Card? *Credit or Debit - What’s the Difference? *What are the Pros and Cons of Using Credit? *How Do I Get a Credit Card? *Do Credit Card Offers Differ? *What Happens if I Don’t Pay Off My Balance? *What Should I Do if My Credit Card is Stolen? Week 13: Fixing Your Credit *What is a Credit Report? *Getting a Free Credit Report *Your Credit Score (FICO Score) *Why is Having a Good Credit Score Important? Week 14: Intro to Investing * Setting Financial Goals *Savings Basics *FDIC-Insured or Not? *Inflation and your Rate of Return *Is My Money Growing? *Calculating Your Rate of Return *How Do Commissions Affect Rate of Return? *What is a Money Market Account? *What Are Mutual Funds? *What Are Fund Expenses and Why Are They Important? *Can I Avoid Mutual Fund Fees? *Scams to Avoid Week 15: Risk vs. Return *What is the Stock Market? *What is Risk? *How Does Risk Relate to Return? *Stock Basics *What is a DRIP? *Bond Basics *Spreading Your Risk with Mutual Funds *Managed Mutual Funds or Index Funds? *How Do I Research Investment Opportunities? *How Do I Purchase Stocks, Bonds, Money Market Funds, and Mutual Funds? *How Should My Portfolio Change with My Age? *U.S. Investments vs. Global Investments Week 16: Diversification *What is an Investment Portfolio? *What is Diversification? *What Are the Benefits of Diversification? *What Are the Different Avenues of Diversification? *Should I Use a Financial Planner? *Researching Investments with Financial Publications *Researching Investments Online Week 17: Investing for Retirement *What is Retirement? *What is Social Security? *What is a Pension? *What Are Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans? *The 401(k) *What Are Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)? *What if I’m Self-Employed? *Retirement Annuities Week 18: Buying a Home *Owning vs. Renting *Housing Choices *How Do I Find a Home? *How Much Home Can I Afford? *What’s a Mortgage? *Mortgage Basics *Different Types of Mortgages *Location, Location, Location! *How Much of My Home Do I Really Own? Week 19: Insurance *How Do I Purchase Insurance? *The Cost of Insurance *What is a Deductible? *Auto Insurance *Renters Insurance *Homeowners Insurance *Health Insurance *Disability Insurance *Life Insurance Week 20: New Career Project *Simulation Game Keywords: financial literacy for students, financial literacy for beginners, financial literacy course, financial literacy for kids, importance of financial literacy for youth, why is financial literacy important, financial literacy program, semester course, semester course for teens, money, values, money values, psychology of money, budgeting tool, budgeting worksheets, budgeting template, types of budgeting, budgeting process, online banking, checking account meaning, online checking account, investing app, investing market, investing for beginners, investing apps, how to start investing, investing in stocks, sim game, simulation game, math, basic math, money math, algebra, reading, reading and comprehension, personal finance program, personal finance for students, personal finance for beginners, personal finance course, personal finance for kids, importance of personal finance for youth, why is personal finance important, personal finance program, personal finance basics, personal finance topics
Learning Goals
Students will be able to:
Week 1: Simulation Tutorial and Math Concepts Reference
-Understand how the course works and how the simulation is played
-Review math concepts (percentages, compound growth, probability & statistics, single variable equations, geometry)
Week 2: Time Management and Health
-Monitor Key Health Factors
-Allocate Time and Make Smart Purchases to Improve Health
-Plan and Alter Schedules to Allow Them to Balance Health, Work and Educational Goals
Week 3: Finding a Job
-Research and compare potential job openings
-Understand how experience and education qualify them for different levels of jobs
-Understand how payroll taxes and income tax deductions cause their net pay to be less than their gross pay
-Understand that some jobs provide health insurance and some don’t
-Experience how working at one job can give them the experience necessary to get a better paying job with more benefits
Week 4: Paying Your Taxes
-Read and identify key information on a W2 wage and tax statement
-Read and identify key information on a 1099-Int interest statement
-Fill out a 1040 form
-Use a tax table to compute tax owed
-Compute whether they owe tax or should receive a refund
Week 5: Education and Advancement
-Research job opportunities and determine what education is needed to obtain specific jobs
-Understand the importance of education in furthering their careers
-Understand how student loans work
-Analyze the cost of particular courses and determine how quickly an investment in education is likely to pay back
Week 6: Finding an Apartment
-Understand how apartment location, transportation, and their schedule must work together
-Compare costs of different apartments, including related costs such as transportation
-Explore different apartments in order to facilitate a schedule that accomplishes their goals
Week 7: Buying a Car
-Assess the type of car they can afford based on income and expenses
-Compare the cost of buying vs. leasing a car
-Understand key elements of a car loan, including down payment, monthly payment, and term
-Understand auto insurance, including mandatory coverages, optional coverages, and deductibles
Week 8: Shopping
-Identify and purchase goods that help their productivity, and therefore, improve their financial security
-Understand how to comparison shop to get the most for their money
-Understand how to utilize periodic sales to expand their purchasing power
Week 9: Budgeting and Saving
-Read a pay stub and understand gross pay, payroll deductions and net pay
-Estimate monthly income and expenses based on their pay stubs and their bills.
-Determine whether they expect a surplus or deficit in their budget.
-Read a bank statement to determine their actual income and spending and to compare that to their budget.
-Understand how to open a savings account.
-Recognize the importance of saving money for an emergency fund.
Week 10: Choosing and Balancing a Checking Account
-Understand that cashing checks without a checking account can be costly.
-Correctly enter deposits (credits) in a check register.
-Correctly enter expenditures (debits) in a check register.
-Balance their checkbook against a recent bank statement.
Week 11: Using Online Banking
-Understand how online banking can help them manage their finances more effectively and efficiently.
-Understand how to check account balances.
-Understand how to set up and monitor recurring bill payments.
-Understand how to transfer money between accounts.
Week 12: Getting a Credit Card
-Understand APR, credit limits, and credit card fees.
-Compare credit card offers.
-Understand the benefits of paying off a credit card bill fully.
-Understand how quickly finance charges and late fees can raise the amount owed on a credit card.
Week 13: Fixing Your Credit
-Read a credit report and identify problem areas.
-Understand the impact of poor credit on major purchases such as an automobile.
-Understand how paying off overdue bills will improve their credit score.
-Learn to build a good credit history by using credit responsibly.
-Understand the concepts of a credit score, including what constitutes a good and a bad score.
Week 14: Intro to Investing
-Understand how to invest in FDIC-insured savings accounts.
-Understand how to compare money market funds.
-Understand yield, loads, and expense ratios.
-Understand that returns on mutual funds vary over time.
Week 15: Risk vs. Return
-Understand the difference between a money market mutual fund and a stock fund.
-Compute percentage return based on the beginning and ending value of an investment.
-Understand the concept of volatility (risk) in an investment.
-Grasp the relationship between risk and return in investing.
Week 16: Diversification
-Understand the concept of diversification in investing.
-Understand that diversification can reduce risk while maintaining return levels.
-Compute risk (volatility) of individual investments vs. their entire portfolio.
-Use diversification to reach an investment goal.
Week 17: Investing for Retirement
-Understand that the tax code offers incentives to save for retirement.
-Understand the concept of a 401K plan.
-Understand company matching in a retirement plan.
-Understand how tax-advantaged retirement plans can help them reduce current taxes and make their investments grow over time.
Week 18: Buying a Home
-Understand how key percentages are used to determine how much housing expense a person can afford based on their gross income.
-Understand how other loan payments affect how large a mortgage they can get.
-Understand PMI and how it relates to down payments.
-Understand points and how they relate to interest rates and monthly payments.
-Understand how the term of a mortgage affects monthly payments and total interest paid.
Week 19: Insurance
-Understand the importance of insurance in protecting themselves financially.
-Understand what a deductible is and how it relates to premiums.
-Understand how premiums vary with coverage sought.
-Understand how medical insurance works and the relationship between co-pays, deductibles and premiums.
Week 20: New Career Project
-Manage their time to achieve a healthy, prosperous balance.
-Find employment and pay bills effectively.
-Understand how to use banking, debit cards, and credit cards wisely.
-Use higher education to advance their careers.
-Use insurance to reduce financial risk.
-Invest wisely to build wealth without taking on undue risk.
-Understand home ownership and opportunities in real estate investment.
Other Details
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined March, 2021
4.9
37reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
Utah Teaching Certificate in Secondary Education
I am from the United States and have been teaching various business, marketing, and finance courses for 13 years. I have taught both at the high school and collegiate level. I teach both in person and online but online is my favorite! I have a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and Business Information Technology Education, a Masters in Business Administration and a PhD in Online Education.
I am very excited to work with all of you through Outschool!Reviews
Live Group Class
$5
weekly20 weeks
Completed by 4 learners
No live video meetings
Ages: 12-17
