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: Coke vs. Pepsi: Which company's stock has performed better over the past five years?
Answer: Pepsi
Questions
What factors do you think contribute to the very different market performance of these companies?
Which products do you personally prefer? Would you make an investment decision based on your personal product preference?
Pepsi also has diversified into the snack food business and owns Doritos, Cheetos and Sun Chips while Coke has diversified into the coffee business. Knowing this, which company do you think has better long-term prospects? Explain.
Here's the...
Interactive Monday: Find Your Career Path...Make More Money!
This Work Wise interactive from Bloomberg has students complete a brief questionnaire to find out...
After you complete this survey, the interactive takes you through a series of steps:
Shows how your income stacks up relative to your peers cuz we know that we all love to know information like this.
Provides tips on how you can increase your current salary
Tells you what city you could move to in order to earn more money in your given profession (surprised to learn that personal...
QoD: To tip or not to tip: What percent of people tip at coffee shops?
I love this question because of the prevalence of these touch screens that get turned toward the customer at time of purchase. Do you feel that nudge...?
Answer: 48.5% (median tip is 17% or about $1 tip on a $5 latte)
Questions:
Do you leave a tip at your local coffee shop/cafe? If so, how much do you normally tip?
Is your tipping behavior based on the service you receive or do you have a consistent policy?
Does the presence of a touch screen where the people behind you in line can see...
NGPF Podcast: Aleta Smith discusses the importance of financial education for foster youth
Aleta Smith has an incredible story of grit and determination to share in this NGPF podcast. She describes the money lessons she learned from her grandmother, the ambitious savings goals she set to pay for college and how she is giving back in her current role at Excite Credit Union. You will be inspired!
Details:
0:00~1:05 Introduction
1:05~7:04 Aleta’s background
7:04~11:27 From learning how to save to opening a secured credit card
11:27~13:57 Attending community college ...
QoD: What's the average age of the founders of the fastest growing start-ups (new companies)?
Answer: 45
Questions:
Does this answer surprise you? Why?
Who are some of the young founders that you have head of? What companies did they start?
What do you think are the advantages of starting a company when you are middle aged? when you are young?
Would you like to start your own business someday? At what age?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (from American Economic Review):
Many...
QoD: Would you rather have $1,000,000 or start with a penny and double your money every day for 30 days?
Good question to show the power of compounding...of course be sure to tell them that no investment would double on a daily basis for 30 days;) Calculators not allowed!
Answer: Starting with a penny and doubling it every day compounds to $10.7 million after 30 days
Day 1: You would have $0.02
Day 2: You would have $0.04
Day 3: You would have $0.08
Day 4: You would have $0.16...
Day 30: You would have $10,737,418.24.
Questions:
How much would the penny have grown to on Day 29? How much...
Chart of the Week: New Car Loans
By Tim Ranzetta
|
Oct 08, 2019
|
Chart of the Week, Purchase Decisions, Budgeting, Behavioral Finance
Summary: This chart shows the percentage of new car loans and the term of their loans (in months).
Questions:
How would you summarize the trend in the length of new car loans over the past decade? Increasing or decreasing?
Which loan term has seen the sharpest increase in the past decade?
What is the relationship between the term of the loan and the amount of the monthly payment?
The longer the loan term, the _______ the monthly payment.
The _________ the loan term, the...
QoD: Can you name ONE of the FIVE most impactful pieces of financial advice that millennials have received?
By Tim Ranzetta
|
Oct 07, 2019
|
Question of the Day, Personal Finance, Budgeting, Savings, Research
Questions:
Create a similar list with students in your classroom in answer to this question "What is the best financial advice that you have received from family members?"
What does the phrase "Don't live beyond your means" mean to you? Can you give some examples of people "living beyond their means?"
Why do you think that building an emergency fund has been such useful advice to millennials.
The advice listed above seems pretty "common sense." Why do you think that many people...
Interactive Monday: What are the trends with single-family homes?
Have your students explore this interactive from the Census Bureau to learn more about the characteristics of single-family homes built and sold in 2018. Putting the cursor over the yellow circle and blue squares in the interactive reveal information about the specific feature in the house. Lots of opportunities for math teachers teaching percents with this interactive as students can calculate how prevalent each home feature is.
Questions:
What was the median square footage for a new...
QoD: For credit card users who have called customer service,._____ in 10 got a fee waived, ______ in 10 got a lower interest rate and _____ in 10 got a higher credit limit.
Sometimes it just takes a little initiative to save money:)
Answer;
6 in 10 have gotten a fee waived before, while 3 in 10 have received a lower APR and 9 in 10 have been granted a higher credit limit.”
Questions
Do you feel comfortable calling customer service when you have an issue with a company?
Does seeing this information about how customers save money by calling customer service make a difference in your answer to #1?
Why do you think that credit card companies are so willing to...
NGPF Podcast: Yanely Espinal shares insights after a year of classroom visits to New York city high schools
Since joining NGPF as director of educational outreach in August of 2019, Yanely Espinal has visited close to 100 high school classrooms. In these workshops, she inspires young people through her own personal story and shares the money lessons she learned through the "school of hard knocks." In this podcast, Yanely shares what she learned during these visits, including the money topics that mattered most to young people and the "hooks" she used to engage them. She also explains the...
FinCap Friday: Be Fast with the FAFSA
This week's FinCap Friday brings you some information about the FAFSA - What is it used for? Why does it matter? Who should file the FAFSA? When is the deadline? Paying for college is one of the biggest purchases people make in their lifetime and the application process for college admissions and college financial aid are far from simple or straightforward. Find out all about the FAFSA details that matter most in this week's episode below:
If you're short on time, try our simplified...
Activity Idea: Psychology of Investing
Here's an activity I did with my class a few years back that helped simulate the psychological aspects of investing.
It's a pretty simple game with multiple ways that you could extend and increase its complexity.
Game Instructions
You are starting the game with a fictional balance of $100
This game will have 10 rounds
The player with the highest balance after 10 rounds will be the WINNER!
Game worksheet
How each round proceeds:
Each student independently decides if they...
QoD: You purchase a new car and a year later sell it back to the dealer. What is the loss in value you should expect, as a percentage of the original purchase price?
Answer: 31% loss in value from your original purchase price
Questions:
Why do you think this loss is so large since the car is still only one year old?
What are the reasons that someone would be selling a car back to the dealer after only one year? Why might a dealer be hesitant about buying back a one-year old car?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers: (DURABLES AND LEMONS: PRIVATE INFORMATION AND THE...
QoD: Match the percentage with the correct item: 97%, 25%, 37%
Following up with another fun FAFSA fact...
Items:
Percent of families who know that FAFSA is available starting October 1st [25%]
Percent of families who plan to complete the FAFSA together WITH their college bound child [37%]
Percent of families who plan to complete the FAFSA [97%]
If you need an explainer, here's a two minute video explaining the FAFSA:
Questions:
Why do you think the FAFSA is so important? Does this survey information confirm how important it is?
Have you had...
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