FHI 360 worked with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to develop age-appropriate activities for elementary, middle grade and high school students that educators can use to build students’ financial capability.
All learning activities include a teacher guide and student material and are designed to be completed in a single class period. Whether you’re an experienced personal finance teacher supplementing your existing materials, or you want to integrate financial literacy into another subject, these engaging explorations can help build your students’ financial capability and nurture the knowledge, skills, habits and practices they need to manage their money now and in the future.
Elementary Activities: Money Monsters
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Money Monster stories teach children about managing money.
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Being a thankful borrower
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Choosing a career
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Drawing your own business comic strip
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Exploring entrepreneurship
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Exploring opportunity costs
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Learning about careers with Money Monsters
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Learning about giving with Money Monsters
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Learning to save with Money Monsters
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Making spending choices
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Playing a business game
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Practicing giving
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Sequencing a story about borrowing
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Sharing a story about borrowing
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Spending more than money on a pet
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Starting small and saving up
Elementary Activities: Earning
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Learn ways to make money.
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Charting types of pay
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Choosing a career
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Comparing careers and income
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Comparing jobs and hobbies
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Creating a vision board for a career
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Drawing your own business comic strip
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Earning money
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Exploring entrepreneurship
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Exploring opportunity costs
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Exploring ways we use money
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Exploring saving and spending game
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Graphing ways to make money
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Identifying a career
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Learning about careers with Money Monsters
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Learning about coins
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Matching interests and talents to careers
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Meeting your future self
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Playing a business game
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Playing a money counting game
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Playing career charades
Elementary Activities: Saving and Investing
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Understand how and why to save money.
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Bouncing ball spending game
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Building savings habits
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Coloring your savings
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Comparing places to save money
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Creating a song about saving
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Experimenting with saving
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Exploring saving and spending game
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Exploring ways we use money
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Flying into spending and saving
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Learning to save with Money Monsters
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Meeting your future self
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Picturing what you’re saving for
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Puzzling out your savings future
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Saving for now and later
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Singing a song about saving
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Starting small and saving up
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Stepping into savings
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Understanding our money choices
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Writing about saving
Elementary Activities: Spending
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Learn the difference between needs and wants.
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Borrowing or buying?
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Bouncing ball spending game
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Bringing your own bag
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Building savings habits
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Comparing costs when building a rocket
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Choosing the perfect trip
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Exploring needs and wants
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Exploring price changes
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Exploring opportunity costs
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Exploring ways we use money
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Flying into spending and saving
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Giving to a cause
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Knowing what costs us money
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Playing a money counting game
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Playing a need or want game
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Spending money on a trip
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Spending more than money on a pet
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Using a buying plan
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Using a budget to shop for a party
Elementary Activities: Borrowing
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Know how to be a responsible borrower.
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Becoming a trustworthy borrower
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Being a thankful borrower
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Borrowing and lending money
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Borrowing or buying?
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Exploring saving and spending game
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Exploring ways we use money
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Mapping your money journey (elementary school)
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Sequencing a story about borrowing
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Sharing a story about borrowing
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Writing about borrowing
Elementary Activities: Protecting
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Explore ways to keep your valuables safe.
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Bouncing ball protection game
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Comparing places to save money
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Bringing your own bag
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Exploring ways to protect what’s important to us
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Learning about insurance
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Making smart money trades
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Play-acting ways to protect
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Protecting what’s important
Middle School Activities: Earning
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Explore careers, pay, and benefits.
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Applying for jobs
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Comparing higher education choices
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Comparing salaries
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Counting cash
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Counting cash in any language
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Creating a vision board for careers in education
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Creating a vision board for careers in healthcare
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Creating a vision board for careers in math
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Creating a vision board for careers in the arts
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Creating a vision board for careers in the sciences
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Distinguishing between earned and unearned income
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Drawing your own business comic strip
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Examining elements of a paycheck
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Exploring entrepreneurship
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Getting paid
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Identifying ways we all benefit from taxes
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Making connections between education and income
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Playing a business game
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Teaching others about Social Security
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Turning hobbies into earnings
Middle School Activities: Saving and Investing
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Create savings habits.
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Contrasting long-term and short-term savings goals
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Learning about budgets
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Making a good business investment
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Meeting your future self
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Saving and investing card game
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Saving for a rainy day
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Saving for a rainy day in any language
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Saving for short- and long-term goals
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Saving for unexpected events
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Visualizing a savings goal
Middle School Activities: Spending
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Plan and budget your spending.
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Bouncing ball money choices
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Brainstorming household budgets
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Budgeting for a fun day with a friend
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Budgeting for needs and wants
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Building a budget for a school field trip
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Calculating energy costs
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Comparing video game subscriptions
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Counting cash
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Creating a monthly household budget
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Customizing your new vehicle
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Exploring price changes
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Exploring the influence of advertisements
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Figuring out how much to tip
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Paying for fitness
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Practicing comparison shopping
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Paying for after-school activities
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Spending money in world languages
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Teaming up to build a budget
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Understanding who shapes your money decisions
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Understanding our money choices
Middle School Activities: Borrowing
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Learn borrowing basics.
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Analyzing credit card statements
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Asking for a loan
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Avoiding debt
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Being a responsible borrower
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Building a good borrowing reputation
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Getting a credit card and using it wisely
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Managing credit card payments
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Paying for a science expedition using credit
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Understanding minimum payments
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Telling the difference between loan myths and realities
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Understanding credit scores
Middle School Activities: Protecting
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Understand ways to protect yourself from fraud and risk.
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Acting out fraud
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Composing songs and verse about fraud
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Creating a poster about insurance
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Examining the statistics on fraud and identity theft
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Exploring government agencies
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Learning about the Good Student Discount
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Playing an insurance game
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Playing an insurance matching game
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“Protecting your money” campaign
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Protecting your identity online
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Protecting yourself against risk
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Protecting yourself from identity theft
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Protecting your Social Security number
High School Activities: Spending
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Make informed spending choices.
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Analyzing budgets
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Avoiding overdraft fees
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Banking basics card game
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Budgeting for fun in a city
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Budgeting for fun in a rural setting
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Budgeting games for world languages
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Categorizing expenses in any language
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Checking account basics
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Choosing how to get paid
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Choosing the best cell phone plan for you
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Choosing the best exercise equipment for you
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Choosing the best telescope for you
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Choosing the best instrument for you
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Choosing the best saddle for you
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Comparing public transportation options
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Conducting spending interviews
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Debating ways to pay bills
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Differentiating fixed and variable expenses
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Getting banked
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Including giving in your budget
High School Activities: Borrowing
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Understand the benefits and risks of borrowing.
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Banking basics card game
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Calculating loan payments
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Choosing a student loan that’s right for you
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Communicating ways to pay for higher education
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Comparing financial aid offers
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Composing songs and verses about paying for college
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Cosigning loans and sharing credit
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Creating a PSA about credit cards
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Deciding which car and car loan you can afford
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Defining debt consolidation
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Determining how down payments affect loans
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Distinguishing between credit myths and realities
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Identifying the missing credit score category
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Learning how FAFSA works
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Learning how federal financial aid can help you pay for higher education
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Planning your financial path to college graduation
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Qualifying for loans
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Role-playing borrowing and lending
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Shopping in credit city
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Talking with your family about paying for higher education
High School Activities: Protecting
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Learn how protect against the financial consequences associated with risks.
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Acting out fraud and identity theft
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Analyzing auto insurance scenarios
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Creating an insurance commercial
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Creating a PSA about credit cards
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Defining fraud and identity theft
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Examining the statistics on fraud and identity theft
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Exploring types of insurance
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Giving advice about consumer protection
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Handling a lost or stolen card
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Illustrating insurance concepts
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Investigating types of fraud and identity theft
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Investigating payroll tax and federal income tax withholding
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Playing a banking fact and fiction game
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Protecting yourself as a consumer
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Reading about insurance
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Speaking publicly about consumer financial protection rights
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Understanding how insurance works: A case study about Lucy
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Understanding how insurance works: A case study about Omar
High School Activities: MiMM
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Learn how to avoid the unique financial challenges servicemembers might face.
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Angela builds her credit
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Angela learns about the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
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Cruz buys a car
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Dirk makes smart spending choices
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James resists impulse spending
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Miya plans for her future
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Sonya explains the Military Lending Act
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Sonya gives advice on large purchases
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Xavier saves his finances
High School Activities: Earning
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Become an informed worker and prepare for a career.
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Asking for a raise
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Checking account basics
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Becoming familiar with taxes
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Tracking income
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Calculating the numbers in your paycheck
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Choosing how to get paid
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Creating a poster on life after high school
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Exploring community colleges
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Exploring the minimum wage
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Investigating taxes in your life
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Researching the gig economy
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Tracking income for a farming family
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Tracking income for an artist family
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Understanding jobs, teens, and taxes
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Understanding taxes and your paycheck
High School Activities: Saving and Investing
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Plan for short- and long-term savings goals.
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Calculating rate of return
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Calculating loan payments
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Checking account basics
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Comparing saving and investing
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Comparing stock investments
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Creating a savings first aid kit
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Creating your own savings rules
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Discovering the benefits of investing early
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Evaluating savings scenarios
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Playing an investment game
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Playing a saving and spending game
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Reflecting on what’s worth saving for
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Saving each payday
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Setting a SMART savings goal
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Storing my savings
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Understanding redlining
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Writing a personal savings statement
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Writing a personal savings statement in many languages