Personal Finance – Saving & Investing

Distance Learning Lessons:

Compound Interest Calculator

Simple Interest Calculator

Saving & Investing Vocab List

  1. Intro to Savings
    • Essential Questions
      • How much should I save?
      • What are good saving strategies?
      • How are saving and investing different? 
      • Why is it important to start investing for retirement early? 
    • Objectives
      • Describe how saving and investing are different
      • Understand fundamentals of saving such as reasons for saving, how much to save, and strategies to enable saving
      • Explain why it is important to start investing for retirement when you are still young
  2. Challenges of Saving
    • Essential Questions
      • Why can it sometimes be challenging to save money?
      • How does inflation impact savings?
      • How does living paycheck to paycheck influence your decision making and lifestyle? 
      • Why is an emergency fund so important? 
      • What are some strategies that make saving easier? 
      • How does compound interest help you reach your saving goals? 
    • Objectives
      • Identify everyday obstacles Americans experience when trying to save money
      • Recognize the impact of inflation on savings
      • Experience simulated challenges of living paycheck to paycheck
      • Understand why it is important to maintain an emergency fund
      • Understand how compound interest works to increase savings. 
  3. Where to Save
    • Essential Questions
      • How are checking and savings accounts different? 
      • What features should you consider when choosing a savings account? 
      • What are the four main types of savings accounts to select from? 
    • Objectives
      • Explain the difference between a checking and savings account
      • Compare different savings vehicles such as a savings account, CD, and money market account
      • Identify important criteria to consider when selecting a savings account. 
  4. Investing Basics
    • Essential Questions
      • How is saving different from investing?
      • What is the advantage of investing early for retirement? 
      • How does compound interest work? 
    • Objectives.
      • Recognize the value of young people investing early, regularly, and long-term to extract maximum earnings from their investments
      • Explain how compound interest works and how to harness its power when saving and investing 
  5. Stocks
    • Essential Questions
      • How does the stock exchange work?
      • What are the differences between a stock and a bond? 
      • What is a mutual fund? 
      • Why is it important to diversify an investment portfolio? 
    • Objectives
      • Identify the differences between stocks and bonds
      • Explain how risk tolerance plays a role in determining your asset allocation
      • Understand the power of diversification when building your investment portfolio  
  6. Other Investments
    • Essential Questions
      • What is an index fund?
      • What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a financial planner manage my portfolio? 
      • What is a target date fund (TDF) and how does it work? 
      • What is a 401(k)? 
      • How do I start investing with a 401(k)? 
      • What is a Roth IRA and how does it differ from a 401(k)?
    • Objectives
      • Differentiate various approaches you can take towards investing and identify which one is best suited for you
      • Explain what a Target Date Fund is and how it can be useful in reaching your retirement goals 
      • Apply everything you’ve learned about investing through an online interactive game
      • Explain what a 401(k) and a Roth IRA are and how they differ 

Section 1:  Put Savings to Work

Essential Questions:

  • What is the difference between saving and investing?
  • What does it mean to “grow my money”?
  • How do I get started with investing now?

Objectives:  Students will be able to:

  • Make a distinction between saving and investing.
  • Demonstrate how to calculate compound interest
  • Compare types of savings investments

Saving and Investing Video

Booklet

Activities:

  1. Slide 2:  Activity:  In 25 words or less, define what it means to you to be wealthy?
  2. Slide 5:  Save Vs. Invest Activity     savings vs investing venn diagram
  3. Slide Google 18:  Activity 4.2 My Windfalls (think about it..)
  4. Slide 17:  Activity 4.3 More Money – Handout- complete then show possible answers

Class Notes:

  1. Slide 11:  3 Ways to Build Wealth
  2. Slide 18:  Interest-Earning Savings Options

Assignment:

Challenge 4-1: It Pays to Shop Around (DECIDE steps)

Section 2:  How Investing Works

Essential Questions:

  • When should you start investing?
  • How do you buy stock?
  • What are some guidelines to follow when investing?

Objectives:  Students will be able to:

  • Summarize how the time value of money impacts saving and investing
  • Explain how to buy stocks.
  • State fundamental investing guidelines.

Booklet

Activities:

  1. Slide 2:  It costs how much?  Assignment (ask 4 people)   Enter Here
  2. A Simple Introduction to Investing Website:  Work in groups, what are your takeaways from looking at the infographic?
  3. How the Stock Exchange Works Video
  4. Stock Look-up Websites:
    1. https://finance.yahoo.com/
    2. https://www.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/lookup.asp

Useful links:

Class Notes:

  1. Slide 9:  Reasons to Invest
  2. Slide 16:  Here’s the scoop on stocks
  3. Slide 17: The Foggy Crystal Ball (NYSE and NASDAQ)
  4. Slide 19:  How to buy stock
  5. Slide 21:  Stock Study

Assignment:

Stock look-up

Section 3:  Choosing Investments

Essential Questions:

  • Are there other ways to invest other than buying stock?
  • Isn’t investing risky?
  • How much risk are you willing to take when investing?
  • Are there ways to reduce the possibility that you’ll lose money on my investments?

Objectives:  Students will be able to:

  • Give examples of types of investments.
  • Describe the risk-to reward principle.
  • Discuss how risk tolerance impacts investment decisions.
  • Explain how diversification is used as an investment strategy.

Booklet

Activities:

  1. Slide 11:Investment FAQ’s Assignment
  2. Slide 12: Take the Risk:  Tolerance Quiz    (enter your score, level, and thoughts in classroom)

Class Notes:

  1. Slide 11: Investment FAQs
  2. Slide 12  Take the Risk

Assignment:

Section 4: Investment Strategy

Essential Questions:

  • What are the basic guidelines for investing?
  • Don’t you need a massive amount of money to invest?
  • When you finally have your own investments,  you can just sit back and watch your assets grow in value, right?

Objectives:  Students will be able to:

  • Summarize guidelines for investing.
  • Describe the benefits of dollar-cost averaging.
  • Discuss rights and responsibilities related to investing.

Booklet

Activities:

  1. Slide 8:  Journal Entry  – What is one or two wealthy habits you can put in place now?
  2. Slide 14:  Activity 4-8

Class Notes:

  • Slide 2:  3 Steps to Build Wealth
  • Slides 5 & 7 Wealthy Habits
  • Slide 15:  7 Paths to Pure Trouble

Assignment:

Investment Strategies Topics Assignment Summary

Vocab Review