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.
Question of the Day: What is the most popular credit product for Gen Z consumers?
Answer: Credit Cards
Questions:
What do you think will be your first credit product, if any, from the list above?
How would you describe your feelings about borrowing money (credit)?
The chart above compares Gen Z and Millennials when they were at the same ages. What differences do you see in the credit behaviors?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (CNBC):
TransUnion compared the credit...
NGPF Podcast: Kerri Herrild discusses the Giving Project
It was awesome to catch up with NGPF Fellow Kerri Herrild of De Pere High School (Wisconsin) who discussed her Giving Project with us. Kerri shares her story on why this concept of "giving back" is so important to her. We go in-depth to learn how she brings philanthropy to her students in a tangible way. You will learn how her students react to this opportunity to research and donate to a cause that matters to them.
You will not only walk away inspired by Kerri but with a concrete set of...
Interactive: Five Money Musts
Five Money Musts is an interactive where students are forced to make trade-offs as they work their way through a budgeting exercise that envisions their lives after they complete their educational journey. The budgeting decisions include:
Deciding between three job offers
Deciding on an apartment rental taking into account commute time, cost and # of roommates
Choosing essential expenses
Contributing to a 401k
Deciding whether to get a credit card
Managing discretionary expenses and...
Question of the Day: What percent of online purchases are returned to the retailer?
After the holiday season comes the returns.
Answer: 18%
Questions:
Have you (or someone you know) ever returned something that was purchased online? If so, why?
What items do you think are most likely to be returned? least likely?
While it is "FREE", what do you think are the costs involved for the retailer? Who is picking up these costs if they are "FREE" to you?
What are steps that you can take to avoid returning items you bought online?
Click here for the ready-to-go...
Question of the Day: Which item saw the sharpest increase in prices in last 12 months: Gasoline, Bacon or Eggs?
Answer (from Visual Capitalist):
Questions:
Have you noticed inflation (the increases in prices) in items that you or your family purchase in your own lives?
Which of the items above do you think consumers will buy less? Which of the items do you think they will not change their behavior despite the price increases?
Pick one of the items from the list and come up with a substitute that a consumer might choose.
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the...
NGPF Podcast (CLASSIC): Mark Salisbury of Tuition Fit on increasing transparency on the cost of college
As high school seniors prepare to receive their financial aid award letters letters later this spring, we thought this popular podcast from Mark Salisbury in 2020 would prepare educators and counselors for the conversations and questions. In addition to listening to this podcast, you will want to participate in an upcoming 3-part PD series that Mark will be hosting, College Pricing Explained: Reality Behind the Curtain. Find out more and register for this FREE! series which starts on...
FINAL SUMMARY: NGPF's FinEd BillTracker for 2021
Personal Finance education captured lots of attention and activity in state legislatures across the country in 2021. To keep you abreast of these developments, we launched NGPF's FinEd BillTracker which has now been updated as of 12/31/21.
Here's the final tally for what was accomplished in 2021:
26 states + DC introduced bills focused on financial education in public schools
3 states had bills signed by their governors that guarantee that all high school students will complete a one...
Question of the Day; How many states are raising their minimum wage in 2022?
Answer: 26
Questions:
How is the minimum wage changing in your state? Here’s the data source with minimum wage data on all 50 states (most of the 50; a few have N/As).
Are employers in your area paying more than the minimum wage for part-time jobs?
Most states now have set minimum wages far above the federal rate of $7.25. Why do you think legislators in DC have chosen not to raise the federal minimum wage?
Imagine you run a small business where most of your employees earn...
UPDATED (1/12/22): Guess the CPI and your class could win a $100 gift card!
UPDATE (1/12/22): The CPI for the 12 month period ending December 2021 was announced this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and came in at....7%! Details here.
Congratulations to our three winners this month who estimated the exact number:
Diana Garza, a Business and Money Matters teacher at Earl Warren High School (San Antonio, TX): 6th period class
Pan Zunggeemoge, an Economics Teacher at Learn4Life (Gardena, CA)
Allison Gossick, a Personal Finance teacher at Blue Valley North...
Question of the Day: Which company was the first to reach a stock market value of $3 trillion in January of 2022?
Answer: Apple
Questions:
Why do you think that Apple is such a valuable company?
How easy or difficult do you think it will be for Apple to continue to grow their market value? Explain.
Math: Stock market value is calculated based on the stock price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. If Apple’s value is $3 trillion and the stock price is about $182, how many shares are outstanding?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your...
NGPF Podcast: Ted Benna on the past, present and future of the 401(k)
I had fun reconnecting with Ted Benna, the Father of the 401(k), four years after his last guest appearance on the NGPF Podcast. He's been a busy guy since then, writing a book (401(k) 40 Years Later), updated another (401(k) for Dummies), advised start-ups and worked with small businesses to help them develop high quality, low-cost retirement plans for their employees. In this podcast, you will hear Ted's fascinating perspective on the 401(k) market as it has grown to $15 trillion in assets....
NGPF Podcast: Soraya Alexander of Classy on how the pandemic changed how Americans give to charity
As has been said before, the pandemic has brought the future forward and accelerated trends in so many industries, including philanthropy. In this NGPF podcast, you will hear from Soraya Alexander, the COO of Classy. She shares insights from their recent 2021 report on Why America Gives. Listen and learn more about how individuals shifted more of their giving online which makes it important for non-profits to make that checkout process as frictionless as possible (sound familiar to those...
NGPF's Best of 2021: Most Popular On-Demand Modules
Given teacher's increasingly hectic schedules, we heard about the need for PD that could be completed asynchronously. Recording our live virtual PD sessions wasn't a viable option since it would sacrifice the interactivity and the collaboration that teachers tell us are the reasons they attend. Instead, NGPF On-Demand modules were created with these tenets in mind:
Content knowledge: Focus on deepening teacher content knowledge in areas they find most challenging (e.g., investing, taxes,...
NGPF's Best of 2021: Product Releases and Updates
By Tim Ranzetta
|
Dec 22, 2021
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Behavioral Finance, Taxes, Career, Math, Economics, Professional Development
Our best ideas come from you and the top 10 list below shows how we maintained our focus in 2021 to build products and services that you need. Several themes emerge from the list:
You like our commitment to continually update our resources as the Career and Taxes updates scoring high on the list.
You challenged us to think of ways to incorporate personal finance across the curriculum so we built a new Financial Algebra course and added to our Economics resources. Thanks to your efforts...
NGPF's Best of 2021: Top Search Terms on NGPF Website in 2021
Click on the links below to see the results from the new and improved NGPF Search Tool. It's more comprehensive in its results and you will find the resources that you are looking for much faster too.
Taxes
Bean Game
Identity Theft
Budgeting
Credit
Insurance
Question of the Day
Retirement
Fine Print
Resume
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Other NGPF Best of 2021 Lists:
NGPF's Best of 2021: Most Visited Unit Pages
NGPF's Best of 2021: FinCap Friday
NGPF's Best of 2021: Arcade...
