Why we need financial education: Students underestimate power of compound interest and think savings accounts earn the highest returns
The answers to these two questions from a recent workshop are a great demonstration of the need for financial education:
When asked which of these investments would earn the highest returns, the most common answer was....Savings Accounts and 34% got the right answer:
When asked the question about how $1,000 growing at 7% annually would grow over 40 years (I read the question and emphasized ANNUALLY several times as Kahoot limits the characters in the question)....23 skipped the...
5 Cool New Videos: Savings Tips, Payday Lending and Stock Market Winners and Losers Over the Past 20 Years
By Tim Ranzetta
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Mar 20, 2019
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Video Resource, Credit Cards, Financial Scams, Compound Interest, Investing, Stocks
I wanted to share some cool new videos that we have come across in our travels:
Three Psychological Tricks to Help You Save Money (TED Talks; 5 minutes); hat tip to Yanely for connecting us to Wendy; hope to have her on podcast in the future.
Backgrounder on the Payday Lending industry (PBS NewsHour; 4 minutes); good opportunity to discuss the financial pitfalls of payday lending, it's fee structure and the role of regulation in consumer protection.
How...
Best Of 2018...NGPF Video Library
By Tim Ranzetta
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Dec 27, 2018
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Behavioral Finance, Video Resource, Compound Interest, Credit Scores, Paying for College, Budgeting
Looking for videos to supplement your existing lessons? Here's a few of teacher favorites as measured by click data in our Video Library.
Drumroll please...top 10 picks for 2018:
10. The Pain of Paying from Dan Ariely of Duke University
9. Fighting the Financial Pitfalls of the Supermarket from PBS Digital's Two Cents
8. What's A Credit Score? from Kal Penn Explains
7.Why We Crave What's Cool from PBS NewsHour
6. Can I Afford It? from CNBC
5. Battle Between Your Present and Future Self from...
FinCap Friday: The Raging Bull
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Aug 30, 2018
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Investing, Question of the Day, FinCap Friday, Stocks, Compound Interest, Current Events, Savings
We know your students have a fascination with the stock market. Use the market's recent record-breaking performance to start a discussion about the pros/cons of investing. Learn more in the third installment of FinCap Friday, The Raging Bull.
For a quick refresher, our FinCap Fridays include...
A five question Kahoot!
A 90 second video providing details about the current event and explaining why it matters to students
A discussion prompt
Activity ideas to extend the learning...
Another Way to Reframe That Retirement Conversation: A Dollar Spent Today Could Be Worth .... In The Future?
Thanks to Brian Page for sharing this rule of 72 example from his class. Might get your students to be more mindful about their spending and saving habits.
...
Question of the Day: What percent of American bank deposits are controlled by online banks?
By Tim Ranzetta
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May 02, 2018
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Question of the Day, Savings, Current Events, Research, Compound Interest
Answer: 8% (but growing almost 3X faster than American deposits over all)
This chart demonstrates why their growth should continue to outpace traditional brick and mortar banks. The interest rate they offer on their savings accounts has continued to rise almost matching Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. Meanwhile interest rates at traditional banks....remain close to 0%.
Questions:
Why should you care about interest rates when choosing a bank?
Would you consider using an online...
NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks To Ted Benna, "Father of the 401(k)"
401(k) plans have gone from 0 to about $5 trillion in assets in just 35 years. They have become THE dominant way that people save for retirement today as pensions have become a thing of the past. Today on the NGPF Podcast, you will hear from the "Father of the 401(k), Ted Benna." You will hear about his "aha moment" that led to the birth of the 401(k), the challenges of getting employers and employees to adopt the program in the early years and his opinion of 401(k) plans today. Enjoy!
Details:...
Top 5 on NGPF Blog
By Tim Ranzetta
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Sep 18, 2017
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Generosity, Identity Theft, Career, Economics, Employment, Compound Interest, Entrepreneurship
Here are the recent posts that have been attracting the most eyeballs:
Steal of the Century: Equifax Hacked
Looking for more on this event? Check out this list of links I came across today.
Let's Pick A Side Hustle
Infographic listing 25 "side hustles" which can make for an interesting classroom discussion
How to Set Up A Mock Career Fair in Your School
The NGPF team participated in this event at Carlmont High School in Belmont, CA. Thanks for John Rowe for inviting us into the...
What is Your Favorite NGPF Resource? We Asked 12 Educators at NGPF Summer Institute And...
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jul 17, 2017
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Activities, Credit Scores, Activity, Credit Cards, Investing, Stocks, Credit Reports, Generosity, Compound Interest
here is what they said. Day 1 of our July Summer Institute and we wanted to share with the community the top picks of these outstanding educators. But first, we asked them to explain a few things about this resource. Click on the link listed under Picture of Poster for educator answers to questions about their favorite resource, including:
Why is this your favorite?
What modifications (if any) did you make?
How did the resource work in your classroom?
What other feedback would you like to...
NGPF Podcast: Tim Talks To USAA Product Designer, Vikram Parekh
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jul 16, 2017
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Behavioral Finance, Research, Investing, Savings, Podcasts, Compound Interest
I recently served on a panel with USAA’s Vikram Parekh at the Visa Financial Literacy Summit in Chicago. In my research for the panel, I discovered that Vikram has a really cool job at USAA, which is not your typical financial institution. Their customer base is drawn from military and their families and to say they are hyperfocused on their customers’ financial wellbeing is probably an understatement. You will hear how Vikram uses principles of behavioral finance to get...
Chart: How Are Millennials Investing Their Money?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jun 27, 2017
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Chart of the Week, Question of the Day, Research, Personal Finance, Investing, Stocks, Current Events, Math, Compound Interest
Hat tip to The Reformed Broker for this thought-provoking chart which will get your students thinking about the importance of asset allocations:
Questions for students:
Note: Equities are synonymous with stocks, fixed income means bonds, think of cash as a savings/checking account and alternatives would be alternative investments like hedge funds or private equity.
What are the top four assets that millennials are investing in?
Now rank the assets from highest to lowest historical return....
What Are People Reading on the NGPF Blog?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jun 26, 2017
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Behavioral Finance, Credit Cards, Investing, Savings, Checking Accounts, Current Events, Quizzes, Compound Interest, Cryptocurrencies, Retirement
Getting close to the end of June, so I thought it was worth checking our website analytics to see what new blog posts are garnering attention as the school year wound down in many parts of the country.
Here are the top 5:
What is Bitcoin and How Does Cryptocurrency Work?: A Primer; NGPF’s newest team member, Hari Vasu-Devan tackled this challenging topic by providing educators with information they can access when the inevitable student query comes, “Should I be investing in...
Question: What Is Your Most Valuable Asset Today?
By Tim Ranzetta
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May 03, 2017
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Article, Career, Research, Investing, Savings, Current Events, Compound Interest
Answer: You!
To a student with little in the way of financial assets, this is a critical question for them to answer. Why? Because it provides them with the right mindset as they are coming to conclusions about their post-high school life.
From “Of Dollars and Data,” one of my new favorite blogs:
Nearly all articles written about investment and personal finance (mine included) focus heavily on financial assets despite the fact that most of your value (like mine) is likely not...
Interactive: How Can I Retire Early?
By Tim Ranzetta
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Apr 30, 2017
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Savings, Activity, Behavioral Finance, Investing, Activities, Compound Interest, Interactive
As an educator, I often get this question from students. Yes, I know they have attention spans that are minute to minute (or text to text) but when the subject of retirement comes up, they usually fixate on “How can I get there as soon as possible?”
What I love about this post from Mr. Money Moustache (last seen on this blog in 2014), is the simplicity of his answer and how it all comes down to ONE factor:
Well, I have a surprise for you. It turns out that when it boils right down...
Laura's Insights: NGPF in the Classroom!
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Mar 29, 2017
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Personal Finance, Credit Scores, Paying for College, Credit Cards, Index Funds, Investing, Mutual Funds, Financial Literacy, Teaching Strategies, Compound Interest
This year, NGPF took our show on the road and taught personal finance workshops in several local schools. These experiences included a 3 day workshop at the Nueva School (San Mateo), a four session workshop at Castilleja school (Palo Alto), seven sessions with an AVID classroom at Mountain View High School (Mountain View) and our intensive 6 week workshop at Eastside Prep (East Palo Alto). In this post, I will share my experiences at the Castilleja School, an all-girls school just down the...
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