Today we will be watching the documentary, "Maxed Out". We will be pausing the movie for brief questions/discussion, but we will use the entire period. Your task today is to watch the movie and take notes which you will turn in at the end of class. These notes will be "extra credit", but I do recommend that everybody do them. This is an important subject which we will finish talking about on Friday.
Showing posts with label finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finance. Show all posts
Before we begin todays assignment, we need to have a discussion about classroom etiquette and what my expectations are for the rest of this school year.
Before we begin, take a moment to check your "Stock Portfolio" at the Virtual Stock Exchange.
Today we will be taking a closer look at investing principles and making your money work for you.
- View Video: How the Stock Market Works
- Class Discussion: How do events and stories in the news affect the stock market.
- Discuss the importance of "making money while you sleep".
- Get out your NEFE (Finance) book and turn to page 27: Unit Three - Investing: Making Money Work for You
- Read pages 27-29
- Read & Discuss page 30: The Time Value of Money and The Power of Compounding
Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, we are going to start the Checking Account project on Monday. Instead, we will today look at investing -- specifically the stock market.
Scenario: Your eccentric "Uncle Hoot" left you $100,000 in his "Last Will and Testament" -- the only catch is that you have to invest it all in a U.S. Stock Market and you can't check it out until June 1st.
In order to get started, you need to sign up for an account at the Virtual Stock Market. Just click on "Please Register" and then fill in the blanks (you can use your KHS gmail if you would like). Then click on "Continue". Next you need to join our class game -- in the box that says "Enter the Game ID below" type in KHSGriff (exactly as it looks) and press ENTER (or click the little orange triangle). In the screen that opens up where it says, "This is a Private Game. Enter Game Password" go ahead and put in knights as the password.
[Note: The person who manages to make the most on their stock market portfolio will win a prize and a certificate at the conclusion of the challenge on June 1st.]
After we are signed up for the account, we will discuss how the Stock Market works and the principles of investing.
Here's an interesting old cartoon explaining how the Stock Market works.
Today we will begin discussing banking to prepare for our banking/checking simulation. During the simulation you will be using "checks", credit cards, debit cards, etc. to pay for services and merchandise. We will be applying for a job, filling out the necessary paperwork to start working, look at our pay stubs, pay our bills, balance our checkbook, etc.
Let's begin by looking at banks and credit unions:
- A bank is a for-profit company owned by investors in its stock. These stockholders elect a paid board of directors to manage the bank for them. Anyone can walk up to a bank and open an account.
- A credit union is owned by their customers, who are also called members. These members elect a volunteer board of directors (who are also members) to manage the credit union for them. Credit unions have membership qualifications. By law, each credit union must serve a defined segment of the population. To join a credit union, you have to work for or have a family member who works for an employer in that segment.
Although both institutions have definite differences, both can meet your needs. Both provide a variety of basic financial services including savings and checking accounts, issuing credit and debit cards, and providing loans for cars, homes, and other purposes.
Check out the the following local banks and make a list of what services they offer:
Print your paper and turn in to the basket on top of the printer. (If your computer will not print, email your finished list to askgriff@gmail.com).
Next we will discuss the anatomy of a check:
During the next two weeks we will be working through the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program workbook. This is a good, rounded introduction to personal finance for young people. It covers topics such as financial planning, budgeting, investing, credit, insurance, and your career. We will be working through the book, doing some basic homework (mostly involving keeping track of spending, researching prices of items, interviewing friends or family, etc.), and then working on some financial simulations.
We will also continue working on typing during this time. I expect everybody to spend 10 minutes at the beginning of the period working on "Measurement Writing" exercises in the MicroType Pro program. I will begin administering typing tests very soon.
We took the first few minutes of class today to discuss what we want to cover in Life Skills & Personal Finance. We discussed the possibility of working toward a "Typing Certificate" and that seemed to be a pretty popular [almost unanimous] option. We also discussed covering the following:
- Excel
- Financial Responsibility
- Income Tax
- Banking: Checking and Savings
- Housing: Mortgages, Buying vs. Renting
- Loans: House & Car
- Student Loans
- Egg Babies
- College Prep
- Paying for College: Grants, Cash Aid, FAFSA
- Investing
- Insurance (car & health)
- Which bank is best?
- Which insurance companies are best?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Class Syllabus
