About the Author
Tim Ranzetta
Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.
QoD: What percent of Gen. Z drivers are buying used cars (instead of new)?
Answer: 63%
Questions:
Do you think the first car that you buy will be a new or used car? Explain.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of buying a used car?
Why do you think a lower percentage of older generations buy used instead of new?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (WSJ; subscription required):
“Gen Z buyers’ participation in the new-car space is declining year after year,”...
QoD: For those who struggle paying medical bills, what is the main cause: chronic illness or one-time event?
Answer: One-time event
Questions:
Why do you think that one time or short-term medical expenses more frequently cause people to struggle with medical bills?
What are steps that people can take to prepare for these unforeseen medical expenses?
How does knowing this information impact how you think about health insurance?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (Kaiser Family Foundation):
Among...
Chart of the Week: Most Common Types of Medical Bills (For Those Struggling to Pay Them)
Questions:
What are the top 3 medical bills when it comes to their dollar amounts?
Which bills fits into the category of high frequency but low cost?
Which of the bills listed would you describe as "predictable?"
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Looking for more Charts of the Week? It's a regular weekly feature and here's some of the recent ones.
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QoD: What college major has the highest earnings premium when comparing recent college grads to high school grads?
Answer: STEM majors (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
Questions:
Why do you think college graduates with STEM majors earn more than other majors?
Should you choose a college major based on information like this? What other factors might you consider in deciding what you want to study?
This data shows the annual earnings premium for a college grad in their early 20s relative to a high school grad at the same age. If a high school grad is earning about $25,000 in their early 20's,...
QoD: Who has the highest credit score between the ages of 18 and 30?
Answer: 18 year olds with average FICO score of 713
Questions:
Based on the chart above, why do you think that 18 year olds have the highest credit score among 18-30 year olds?
Between what two ages do you see the sharpest drop? What do you think happened to cause this drop?
What are steps that you can take to have a high credit score when you are 18?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (from...
Interactive Monday: Test Your Credit Score Knowledge
Hat tip to NGPF Fellow Jill Wilson for sharing this credit score quiz with us.
What's to like about the quiz?
It's short (12 questions)
It's thorough: covers what factor goes into a credit score, who cares about your credit score and the cost of not having a good credit score.
It's a good review after you have completed your managing credit unit.
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Here are two teacher favorites when it comes to credit score activities to engage your students: Interactive: FICO...
Podcast: Investing Panel with Jonathan Clements and Bill Bernstein in March 2019
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Apr 19, 2019
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Investing, Podcasts, Stocks, Behavioral Finance
What follows is a summary of the Investing panel discussion held at the NGPF Summit in mid-March 2019 in San Francisco. The all-star panel included Bill Bernstein, financial theorist, neurologist, and financial adviser/author, and Jonathan Clements, WSJ columnist, author, educator and blogger at the HumbleDollar.com. Apologies for the inconsistent sound quality.
Details
0:00~4:25 Introduction
4:25~12:42 The stock market game’s traps
12:42~24:20 Importance of friends and...
FinCap Friday: Check-Up On Your Paycheck!
This week we dive into the controversy over missing income tax refund checks! Many U.S. taxpayers were expecting an income tax refund, only to find out after filing that they either received less than previous years or didn't get a refund at all. Many were left angry and confused because the results of their tax filing was not what they were accustomed to in the past. Play this FinCap Friday to clear up all the confusion and find out why so many Americans had this frustrating...
QoD: Can you identify the brands associated with these marketing slogans?
We are exposed to brands and slogans on a continual basis in our lives. See how many of these brands associated with these marketing slogans that your students can come up with.
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Can you identify the brands with these popular marketing slogans that are anagramed? (Idea from Morning Brew, fun time creating my own)
Example: Please don't squeeze the RICH MAN --> CHARMIN
America runs on KIN DUN
Just DOT I
Breakfast of MACHO PINS
Melts in your mouth, not...
QoD: What is the cost to repair an iPhone screen?
You carry them around with you all the time and apparently break them quite a bit. According to this survey, 2/3 of smartphone users damaged their phones in the past year.
Answer: $29-$329, depending on the model and whether you have carry the AppleCare+ insurance
Questions:
Have you damaged your phone in the last year? If so, have you gotten it repaired?
Do you carry cell phone insurance? Why or why not?
Does knowing that 2/3 of cell phone users damage their phones in a...
Chart of the Week: Summer Jobs
Questions:
What pattern do you see in this line graph?
Between what decade do you see the most significant drop in summer employment for 16-19 year olds?
How does summer employment in the 1970s and 1980s compare with 2017?
Why do you think there has been such a sharp drop in summer employment for 16-19 year olds?
Behind the graph (Pew)
The decline of summer jobs is a specific instance of the longer-term decline in overall youth employment,...
QoD: What percent of 18-21 year olds have considered taking out a payday loan?
Answer: 38%
Questions:
In your own words, what is a payday loan? If you don't know, take 3 minutes to conduct your own research.
Payday loans carry some of the highest interest rates (over 300% in some cases). Why do you think that people still take out these loans?
Why do you think as people age, they are less likely to consider taking out a payday loan?
While 38% of 18-21 year olds considered taking out a payday loan, only 8% actually have over the past 2 years. Why do you think...
Interactive Monday: Stock Trading Game a.k.a. Can You Trade Individual Stocks?
Hat tip to Christian for discovering this interactive from Bloomberg that will get those day traders in your classroom excited.
Here's the game unfolds:
A stock price chart for an undisclosed company scrolls across the screen for 30 seconds.
When you want to buy the stock you hold down the touchpad. You release the touchpad when you want to sell.
You have the opportunity to make repeated buy/sell decisions during the course of the 30 seconds.
At the conclusion of the...
QoD: What percent of taxes owed by taxpayers are NOT paid (a.k.a. "the tax gap")?
It's tax season! Rather than focus on the taxes that paid every year, I thought it would be interesting to look at taxes that are NOT paid. It's a big number as you will see below. Other item to note is that the IRS seems to have given up trying to calculate that number as the last estimates are from 2008-10.
Answer: About 20% (or $458 billion)
Questions:
What do you think are the reasons that people pay less tax than they owe to the I.R.S.?
What are some of the consequences...
NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks to Troy Murphy, A Retired NBA Star Applies His Talents to Financial Advising
After a successful 12-year NBA career, Troy Murphy went back to school, earned his degree and is now starting a financial advisory firm. Why? To teach those lucky few who experience sudden wealth to manage their money effectively, from establishing a spending plan to creating model portfolios with low-cost index funds. Troy shares how he managed his first professional contract, some of the highlights of his NBA career and what motivated him to start his new firm. Troy describes the unique...
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