Download Personal Finance

Transitional Skills Center – Developing Habits for Success (Semester 2)
Personal Finance – Financial Success In Life After High School
Teacher: Haltinner, Betsy
Unit/duration:
Unit 1 – Personal Finance Introduction (1 week)
Essential Questions
Overriding Skills
Skills/Content
How can understanding effective personal finance strategies improve my life?
What can I do to ensure that I will be successful when making and managing money?
Reading: Comprehension
Discussion: Application
Define personal income
Discuss and identify the payroll deductions that are withheld from paychecks
Recognize the 4 four choices that can be made with our money
Describe the importance of developing effective spending habits
Develop financial goal(s) statement
Unit/duration:
Unit 2 – Our Economy (2 weeks)
Essential Questions
Overriding Skills
Skills/Content
How does understanding the economy help me make better financial decisions?
How do business cycles affect my personal income?
Analysis: Cause\Effect
Reading: Research, Interpret
Discussion: Sharing
Identify the key components of and differences between Command, Market, and
Traditional economies
Demonstrate understanding of scarcity and how it is addressed in the three types
of economies
Explain the four phases of a business cycle
Interpret how these cycles can affect personal income
Unit/duration:
Unit 3 – Managing Money (2 weeks)
Essential Questions
How will developing effective spending habits affect my financial future?
Overriding Skills
Reading: Comprehension, Interpret
Discussion: Questioning
Analysis: Cause/Effect
Explain the difference between a needs and wants
Develop a list of needs to live independently and determine the costs of these
items
Prepare an yearly/monthly/weekly expense vs. income needed chart
Discuss the importance of establishing good credit and how one is able to achieve
a good credit rating
Calculate interest rates on credit accounts
Skills/Content
Unit/duration:
Unit 4 – Multiplying Your Money (3 weeks)
Essential Questions
Overriding Skills
Skills/Content
Why is it important to have a savings plan to ensure financial success?
How can saving and investing help me earn additional income?
Reading: Research
Discussion: Presenting
Analysis: Evaluation
Evaluate the differences between savings accounts, stocks, and bonds
Explain how investing in real estate and business ventures help you increase your
income
Select a stock, research the company, monitor the stock over a period of 10 school
days, and report out financial gain or loss
Unit/duration:
Unit 5 – Protecting Your Money (2 weeks)
Essential Questions
Overriding Skills
Skills/Content
What steps can I take to protect my money?
Reading: Comprehension, Purpose
Analysis: Cause/Effect, Interpretation
Identify the various methods of protecting assets
Discuss the benefits of insurance
Relate how the act of budgeting can reduce risk of experiencing financial loss
Examine the concept of “Easy Money”
Personal Finance Final Assessment This unit will be followed by a comprehensive final. This assessment will consist of multiple choice, true or
false, and short response questions. There will also be an essay question asking the student to reflect on their
learning in this course and discuss the most important lesson(s) they have taken away from this course.
Performance Indicator – Students will need to earn 70% of the points possible on this assessment to show
mastery of Personal Finance.