Students will be able to:

1. Identify sources of income.
2. Analyze how career choice, education, skills, and economic conditions affect income.
3. Explain how taxes, government transfer payments, and employee benefits relate to disposable income.

1. People’s income reflects choices they have made about jobs and careers, education, and skill development.
    
2. The wages/salaries paid for a given job depend on a worker’s skills and education, plus the importance of the work to society and the supply of and demand for qualified workers.
3. Social Security and Medicare are government programs that provide insurance against some loss of income and benefits to eligible recipients.
4. Social Security and Medicare are funded by a compulsory payroll tax.
    
5. People pay taxes on many types of income, such as wages or salaries, interest, dividends, capital gains, tips, commissions and profit from a self-owned business.
    
6. Deductions, exemptions, and credits reduce taxable income.
    
7. Employer-sponsored savings plans enable workers to shift some current income to the future, often with tax advantages.

1. Develop a realistic career plan that includes educational requirements and skill development.
2. Compare different jobs and analyze why wage/salary differences exist.
    
3. Describe the purposes of Social Security and Medicare.
    
4. Determine how much Social Security and Medicare deductions are necessary for a given income by a worker and by a self employed individual.
5. Identify taxable income included when calculating gross income for an individual on the federal income tax forms.
6. Give examples of tax deductions, tax credits, and personal exemptions.
    
7. Analyze the effect of an employer-sponsored, tax-deferred, retirement savings program on a worker’s current and future income.

MONEY MANAGEMENT STANDARDS

Students will be able to:

1. Explain how limited personal financial resources affect the choices people make.
2. Identify the opportunity cost of financial decisions.
3. Discuss the importance of taking responsibility for personal financial decisions.
4. Apply a decision-making process to personal financial choices.
5. Explain how inflation affects spending and investing decisions.
6. Describe how insurance and other risk-management strategies protect against financial loss.
7. Design a plan for earning, spending, saving, and investing.
8. Explain how to use money-management tools available from financial institutions.

1. Financially responsible individuals accept the fact that they are accountable for their financial future.
2. Attitudes and values affect financial decisions.
    
3. People purchase insurance to transfer the risk of financial loss.
    
4. Financial advice can be obtained from a variety of sources such as professional financial advisors, books, and the Internet.
5. A personal financial plan should include the following components: financial goals, a net worth statement, an income and expense record, an insurance plan, a saving and investing plan, and a budget.
6. Legal documents, such as wills, can be an important part of financial planning.

1. List specific ways that young people can demonstrate that they are financially responsible.
    
2. Explain the emotional appeal behind a current advertising slogan or campaign.
3. Describe types of insurance, including life, health, disability, and property insurance, and gather information on an auto insurance plan to meet the needs of a teenage driver.
4. Compare two sources of online financial advice.
    
5. Design a personal financial plan for a young person living away from home.
    
6. Identify the important components of a will.

Students will be able to:

1. Compare the benefits and costs of spending decisions.
2. Evaluate information about products and services.
3. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of different payment methods.
4. Analyze the benefits and costs of consumer credit.
5. Compare sources of consumer credit.
6. Explain factors that affect creditworthiness and the purpose of credit records.
7. Identify ways to avoid or correct credit problems.
8. Describe the rights and responsibilities of buyers and sellers under consumer protection laws.

1. Many factors affect spending patterns.
    
2. Formal complaints and government/community agencies can help consumers resolve problems with goods and services.
3. Leasing, borrowing to buy, and rent-to-own options have different contract terms and costs.
4. Making minimum payments on credit card balances increases the total cost and repayment time.
5. 
   Understanding credit card disclosure information is key to controlling borrowing costs.
6. Consumers with excessive debt have a number of options.
    
7. Bankruptcy provides debt relief, but has serious negative consequences.
    
8. Laws and regulations offer specific consumer protections. (See glossary.)
    
9. Negative information in credit reports can affect your financial future.
    

1. Explain how factors such as peer pressure and living arrangements affect spending patterns.
2. Write a complaint letter that states the problem, asks for specific action, includes copies of related documents, and provides contact information.
3. Compare the total costs of leasing, borrowing to buy, and rent-to-own options.
    
4. Calculate how long it takes to repay debt and the total cost when a borrower makes minimum payments.
    
5. Explain how credit card disclosure information, such as grace periods and methods of interest calculation, affect borrowing costs.
    
6. List possible actions a consumer could take in response to excessive debt, such as renegotiating a repayment schedule or selling assets, and their consequences.
7. Describe the negative consequences of bankruptcy, such as the increased difficulty of getting credit in the future.
8.  
   Explain the purposes and features of consumer protection laws and regulations, including those in the list of key terms above.
9. Identify ways that negative credit report information can affect a consumer’s financial future.
    

Students will be able to:

1. Explain the relationship between saving and investing.
2. Describe reasons for saving and reasons for investing
3. Compare the risk, return, and liquidity of investment alternatives.
4. Describe how to buy and sell investments.
5. Explain how different factors affect the rate of return of investments.
6. Evaluate sources of investment information.
7. Explain how agencies that regulate financial markets protect investors.

1. Generally the more uncertain the future value of an asset, the higher the return.
2. Tax-exempt and tax-deferred investments significantly increase an investor’s total return over time.
    
3. Wealth increases with regular saving, time, and frequent compounding.
    
4. Diversification reduces risk by spreading assets among several types of investments and industry sectors.
    
5. Dollar-cost averaging lowers investment costs over time and promotes regular investing.
    
6. Mutual funds pool investors’ deposits to purchase securities.
    
7. Employer-sponsored retirement savings programs provide many advantages to workers.
    
8. Government agencies, such as the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and state regulators, oversee the securities and banking industries and combat fraud.

1. Compare the risks and returns of various saving and investment products.
2. Compare the returns of taxable investments with those that are tax-exempt or tax-deferred.
3. Compare amounts accumulated, given different times, rates of return, and frequencies of compounding.
4. Compare the risk and return of different types of investments and combination of investments over time
    
5. Describe the benefits of dollar-cost averaging and calculate the average cost per share of investments using this strategy.
    
6. Read a prospectus to gain information to make mutual fund decisions.
    
7. Describe the advantages provided by employer sponsored retirement savings programs, such as 401k and 403b.
8. Explain how government agencies protect savers and investors.