Financial Planning

Want to save money on gas?

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Melissa Hart

Gas prices have been low for a few years but, it is always good to save a few more dollars!

What if you are in a new city?  Gas prices can vary by 10-15 cents per gallon in a matter of a few blocks.  How would you know where to find the cheapest gas?  Good news!  The GasBuddy app can help you find the best prices on the go.

Use this article to help you save gas money near home or away.

Did you know that you can?

  1. Use apps to find the best prices no matter where you are.
  2. Get cheaper gas by buying at certain times of day.
  3. Improve your driving and save gas money.
  4. Maintain your vehicle and save gas money.
  5. Get more rewards with your gas prices.

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • Stress the importance of saving small and large amounts of money.
  • Calculate the miles a sample of students have driven in the past year and multiply by varying amounts saved (5-15 cents per gallon) to demonstrate the dollar savings potential.
Categories: Budget, Chapter 6, Financial Planning, Wise Shopping | Tags: , | Leave a comment

6 Ways Men and Women Differ When It Comes to Money

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Melissa Hart

“The differences between men and women have taken on increased importance in today’s conversations about American culture . . .”

Based on information from the Census Bureau, financial institutions, and a credit score company, this article by describes the following six ways that men and women differ when it comes to money.

  1. Men make more for the same work.
  2. Women are better at managing personal debt.
  3. Men pay off their student debt faster.
  4. Men save more in their “rainy day” funds.
  5. Women use sounder strategies, but with less confidence.
  6. Men save more for retirement.

More information about each of the above statements including statistics is provided in the article.

For more information, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • Discuss the specific differences cited in this article in more detail.
  • Create examples of how men and women can use this information to improve their long-term financial security.

Discussion Questions

  1. Based on U.S. census data, women make about 79 percent of what men do for the same work. If you were a woman in this situation, what could you do to increase your salary?
  2. According to this article, women are better at managing personal debt than men. How can the decision to pay off personal debt impact a person’s ability to establish a financial plan, buy a home, or invest?
  3. Pick one of the areas where men are weaker and one of the areas where women are weaker. Describe how you would improve on this factor for a man or a woman.
Categories: Chapter 1, Financial Planning | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Successful Financial Goals

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Melissa Hart

Financial goals are communicated in many formats, and are good to have. However, too often, a goal is lacking the “why.”  While various financial planning actions are beneficial, quite often, little thought is given to the motivation behind a certain goal. Without this “why,” minimal internal motivation is likely to be present to see a goal to completion. The “why” of a financial goal will help you persevere when encountering challenges that could derail your achievement of a goal.

Not being able to answer the “why” may indicate that the goal is not worth your efforts. The “why” will also assure that a goal provides a higher level of satisfaction when it is achieved.  The process may require a series of “why” questions as you respond to the initial “why.”

Instead of being an afterthought, the “why” of your financial goals should be a driving force in creating and achieving these personal economic objectives. Be able to decide if a goal is a result of advertising, societal influences, or reflective thought about your personal financial situation. This action should result in meaningful goals rather than just efforts to accumulate more money or more stuff.

For additional information on financial goals, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students talk to people to create examples of financial goals.
  • Have students ask a series of “why” questions to help other people to better focus their personal financial goals.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What are common motivations that influence personal financial goals?
  2. How might a person better understand the motivation behind personal financial goals?
Categories: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Financial Planning | Tags: , | Leave a comment

The Gig Economy

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Melissa Hart

Online selling, personal taxi services such as Uber, and renting a spare room to tourists, are examples of an increasing number of people generating or supplementing their incomes by trading goods and services online.  This trend is often replacing traditional employment.

Measurement of the “gig economy” (working outside a formal work environment with temporary, short-term employment by independent workers) is difficult.  Many situations are not reported in current labor statistics. In recent years, the fastest growth for self-employed workers has been in hairdressing, cleaning, and management consulting. While these services may be in the gig economy, this trend may also indicate growing formal self-employment in these fields.

Gig economy activities may start as temporary work due to a lay-off or a need to supplement household income. However, as time goes by, these self-employment positions can become a person’s ongoing employment status.

For additional information on the gig economy, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students describe examples of the “gig economy.”
  • Have students explain the “gig economy” to others (including different generations) and get their reactions.

Discussion Questions

  1. What factors influenced the development of the gig economy?
  2. How might the gig economy affect a person’s financial planning activities?
Categories: Career, Chapter 1, Financial Planning, _Appendix B | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Reporting Changes to Social Security is Your Responsibility

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Melissa Hart

If you receive benefits from Social Security, you have a legal obligation to report changes, which could affect your eligibility for disability, retirement, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.  You must report any changes that may affect your benefits immediately, no later than 10 days after the end of the month in which the change occurred.  Changes you need to report range from a change of address to traveling outside the United States for 30 consecutive days.

Life changes affect your benefits.  You may be due additional payments, or you may be overpaid and have to pay Social Security back because you didn’t report the overpayment promptly. The SSI program may apply a penalty that will reduce your benefits if you fail to report a change, or if you reported the change later than 10 days after the end of the month in which the change occurred.  If you fail to report changes promptly, or if you intentionally make a false statement, Social Security may stop your SSI, disability, and retirement benefits.  Social Security may also impose a sanction against your payments.  The first sanction is a loss of all payments for six months.  Subsequent sanctions are for 12 and 24 months.

Report your change online at www.socialsecurity.gov, or by calling toll free at 1-800-772-1213.  If you are deaf or hearing impaired call TTY 1-800-325-0778.  Mail the information to your Social Security office or deliver in person.  If you receive benefits and need to change your address or direct deposit, create a Social Security account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

For more information click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Ask students to visit http://www.socialsecurity.gov and to create their own online Social Security account. There is no fee to create a “my Social Security” account, but students must have a valid e-mail address.
  • Ask students to sign into their “my Social Security” account and obtain their benefit verification letter.

Discussion Questions

  1. Why is it important to report life changes to Social Security if you receive any benefits from Social Security?
  2. What are the consequences if you fail to report changes promptly?

What are several ways you can report the life changes to Social Security Administration?

Categories: Chapter_14, Financial Planning, Retirement Planning | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Personal Finance Quizzes

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Melissa Hart

Need a lecture launcher to start your Personal Finance course?

Here a few links for resources:

Kiplingers Personal Finance Quizzes

LearnVest Quizzes

Financial Football Game

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the links in this blog post:

  • as a lecture launcher for the first day of your Personal Finance course.
  • to preview important personal finance topics that will be covered in the course.
  • stress why everyday decisions can make a “big” difference in the quality of a person’s life over a long period of time.

Discussion Questions

  1. How many of the questions did you get right?
  2. Do you understand why your incorrect answers are wrong and why there is a better answer?
  3. How can the questions in this quiz help you improve your ability to manage your personal finances and improve the quality of your life now and in the future?
Categories: Chapter 1, Financial Planning, Teaching Tools | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Income Tax Identity Theft Baffles IRS

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Melissa Hart

“Income tax identity theft is a huge problem that is only getting worse.”

According to a 2015 report of the General Accountability Office (GAO), the IRS paid out $5.8 billion in bogus refunds to identity thieves for the 2013 tax year–the latest year that complete data are available.  To make matters worse, the actual dollar amount is probably higher because of the difficulty of knowing the amount of undetected fraud.

To combat the problem, the IRS announced a new cooperative effort between the IRS, state tax administrators, and private tax preparation services to fight income tax identity theft.  A number of specific steps are outlined in this article.  Unfortunately, the experts admit there are additional problems to stopping identity thieves that are not addressed in the new program.  In fact, most experts agree that additional regulations are required to coordinate employer reporting of employee wages with Social Security reporting requirements.

For individual taxpayers, bogus tax returns become a very real and personal problem if their social security number is stolen and their personal tax return is flagged by the IRS as suspicious.  To help resolve disputed tax returns, the office of the National Taxpayer Advocate, which is an internal watchdog for consumers at the IRS, suggests that you file a police report and then mail a paper tax return with an attached Form 14039–Identity Theft Affidavit with a copy of the police report.  In addition to additional documentation, expect that it may take on average 278 days to resolve a claim if you become a victim of income tax identity theft.

For more information, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • Discuss the importance of protecting your personal identity and especially your social security number.
  • Stress the importance of monitoring your credit report and all financial documents that could indicate your personal identity has been stolen.

Discussion Questions

  1. What steps can you take to protect your personal identity?
  2. There are a number of credit monitoring services that will help protect your identity. Most charge $75 to $100 or more a year to monitor your financial and personal information.  Do you feel this  service is worth the cost?
Categories: Chapter 3, Chapter 5, Financial Planning, Identity Theft, Taxes | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Financial Fragility of American Households

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Melissa Hart

A recent study from the Federal Reserve reports that almost half of consumers are not able to come up with $400 to cover an emergency expense.  In contrast, the study of 5,800 Americans reported that almost one-third of Americans believed their income would increase in the upcoming year.  However, many appear to be living one big expense away from financial disaster.

Other findings of the study include:

  • Forty-seven percent didn’t have the cash to pay for a $400 emergency expense.
  • One in five participants in the study reported spending amounts greater than their income.
  • “Underemployment” is a major concern for workers since part-time work often means a lack of benefits, especially health care coverage.
  • Nearly one in five Americans has nothing set aside for retirement; 39 percent of report that they have either given no thought or only a little to planning for retirement.

Despite these difficulties, Americans have seen a “mild” improvement in how they view their economic well-being since the recession ended. About 40 percent reported they were either “somewhat” or “much better” off than they were in 2009.

The report reflected that the recovery is only benefiting some.  About half of college-educated respondents said they are better off than in 2009; only 37 percent of those without a bachelor degree reported an improved economic situation.

For additional information on the financial fragility of Americans, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students talk to various people about their economic situation compared with five years ago.
  • Have students create survey questions that might be used to measure the financial condition of a household.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What are common measurements of personal economic well-being?
  2. How might a person take action to improve personal economic well-being?
Categories: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Financial Planning | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Teaching Financial Literacy

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Melissa Hart

While science, math, and history are vital for academic and career success, many high school graduates lack knowledge of basic money management skills.   Along with other subjects, effective financial education should be rigorous, relevant, meets standards, and have engaging learning experiences. Those teaching personal finance should be well-qualified and supported by adequate resources.

In recent years, financial education is referred to as financial literacy or financial capability.  In the past, these topics were taught in math, social studies, business and, consumer science (previously called home economics) courses.  More recently, an extensive number of free or low-cost financial literacy programs and resources have been developed.  Financial institutions, businesses, government agencies, professional associations, and non-profit organizations have collaborated in this effort.  The National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education, published by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, provides teachers with a guidance.

For additional information on teaching financial literacy, click here.

Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students ask people to describe their definition of “financial literacy.”
  • Have students develop a learning activity to effectively teach financial literacy.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What are considered to be the main elements of financial literacy?
  2. Why is financial literacy important for all students?
Categories: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Financial Planning | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Steps in Choosing an Investment Advisor

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Melissa Hart

The investment professional (or team of professionals) you decide to work with will depend largely on your investing goals and the types of products and services that can help you meet those goals.  Your financial needs, and the professionals you work with, are likely to change over your lifetime.  The amount of money you have to invest and your investing priorities also will likely change.  What doesn’t change, though, is the best way to find help.   FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), an independent not-for-profit organization authorized by Congress to protect Americans’ investors, offers the following key steps for choosing financial professionals:

  1. Identify your financial needs, starting with your goals.
  2. Understand the different types of people or firms you could work with, and what each can (and cannot) offer.
  3. Search for possible candidates.
  4. Check the work background and disciplinary history of your finalists.
  5. Make sure you read and understand any paperwork you’re asked to fill out or sign.

Searching for Possible Candidates

One place to start is by talking with your friends, neighbors, relatives, and colleagues—especially those who have some experience as individual investors.  Here’s what to ask:

  • What are the names of the investment professionals you have used?
  • How long have you done business with those individuals?
  • How much or how little have you relied on their advice?
  • Have you ever had a problem with that professional? And, if so, how well and how quickly was the matter resolved?
  • How often does your investment professional contact you? Different people like to interact in different ways and on different schedules, so this question can help assess whether the relationship would work for you.

For more information, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Ask students if they are working with an investment advisor. And if so, what is their experience with him/her.
  • Did students check if their investment advisor is registered with a state, the SEC, or FINRA? If so, in what capacity?

Discussion Questions

  1. Does it matter if a professional investment advisor holds relevant professional designations? Why or why not?
  2. How are the investment advisors compensated? Should you choose a fee-only advisor?  Why or why not?
  3. Is it important to ask your investment advisor for a list of clients you can contact as references?
Categories: Chapter_10, Financial Planning, Investments | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

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