Maximize time with personal finance topics – Fast Lane
I am a...
Page Menu
Educate

Maximize time with personal finance topics

If you have limited time and opportunity

Most teachers and schools do not have the time to cover all of the important topics in financial education. So, how do you teach personal finance when your time is limited? Here are some ideas to maximize your time.

Consider the financial topics your students want to learn

Do a quick survey to see what topics interest your students the most. The National Endowment for Financial Education has a free evaluation toolkit that includes numerous financial literacy questions.

Think about the financial concepts your students may be lacking

You can do a quick assessment or facilitate a discussion to determine how much your students know. Consider using these five questions, developed by the Programme for International Student Assessment.

Consider the financial decisions that may be most relevant for your students

If your students are just entering high school, you can review good financial habits. These include needs vs. wants and savings goals.

  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau developed a clearinghouse of activities that can be filtered by “building blocks.” The activities take into consideration financial habits and norms, school subjects, and grade level.
  • Pathway to Financial Success, created by Discover, offers eight units on financial education. You can start with unit 1, on being financially responsible.
  • Perhaps your students receive an allowance or another type of income from babysitting or an afterschool job. Consider reviewing saving strategies using GFLEC’s Applied Learning: Simple Saving Strategies.
  • Finance in the Classroom, provided by the Utah State Board of Education, is filled with resources to help teach your students saving and investing.
  • If students are talking about career choices and student loans, you may consider Take Charge Today’s lesson plans. They explore careers, getting paid, and how to build human capital. You will have to register for an account, but all the material and resources are free.
Think about factors that may influence the financial decisions of your students or their families

For example, do the families of your students have incomes that vary from month to month? That could provide an opportunity to explain the importance of making a budget and having emergency savings. FINRA Investor Education Foundation created Money Math for Teens to explain the math behind personal finance concepts; one of the lesson plans focuses on the emergency fund.

Parents can strengthen personal finance knowledge at home. For example, families can create a household budget. PwC’s Access Your Potential curriculum offers a Financial Plan lesson plan that teaches students about how to build a budget and understand different types of expenses.

  • Check out the free workshops offered by You Need a Budget. There is a price to get the budget tool, but students get 12 months free.
  • The National Endowment for Financial Education has a six-module curricula, HSFPP, that provides a module on borrowing and one on money management that can be completed in 45 mins. You will have to register for an account, but it’s free.

You can also check out this planning guide, Decide What to Teach, from the National Endowment for Financial Education.  This guide includes questions to consider in planning personal finance lessons.

If you teach a dedicated course or unit

Research shows that the more exposure students have to financial education, the more likely they are to improve their financial knowledge. Here are a few examples of curricula linked to national financial literacy standards. They can be used in a semester course dedicated to personal finance.

  • Many curricula include assessments; try administering these at the start of a course to see what your students already know.  Check out our surveys and assessments page to find quizzes and questions to ask your students.
  • Take Charge Today provides a full research-based curriculum developed by financial education experts and aligned with most state and national standards. You have to register to have access to the material, but the resources are free.
  • The High School Financial Planning Program, developed by the National Endowment for Financial Education, offers six modules that are aligned with standards. This curriculum was developed by subject-matter experts and educators; it uses real-world applications and requires little teacher prep. An evaluation of this program showed it improved student knowledge, behavior, and confidence. You have to register for access, but all the material will be sent for free.
  • Financial Fitness for Life was designed by experts in the financial education field. The curriculum is tailored to high school instruction, is based on national standards, and is tied to standards in economics, personal finance, mathematics, and language arts. There is a cost for the student guide and the teacher guide.