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...
QoD: What is the fastest growing scam reported to the FTC? a) Tax scams b) Romance scams c) Gift card scams?
Answer: Romance scams
I figured now that Valentine's Day was in the rearview mirror, we could show the dark side of romance.
Here's the chart:
Questions:
Why do you think romance scams are so successful and growing so quickly?
Do you know anyone who has fallen for a romance scam?
What are steps that you can take to prevent falling prey to a romance scam?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your...
Just One Resource - INTERACTIVE: Shady Sam
By Tim Ranzetta
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Feb 04, 2019
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Just One Resource, Interactive, Math, Behavioral Finance, Student Loans, Mortgages, Financial Scams
In this weekly blog post, the Curriculum team will highlight Just One Resource from our NGPF collection that maybe doesn't get the attention it deserves. Use it this week or bookmark it for later.
[The Resource] INTERACTIVE: Shady Sam
The Gist: Students play loan shark in this engaging game where they see loans from the perspective of a lender as they try to maximize their profits.
The Best Parts:
Students decide between three loan options for...
Best of 2018...NGPF FinCap Fridays
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jan 04, 2019
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Budgeting, FinCap Fridays, Financial Scams, Career, Current Events, Employment, Generosity
We added FinCap Fridays to our resources in mid-August. Teachers asked for a creative and engaging way to bring current events into their classroom and we listened. A 5-7 minute FinCap Friday kicks off with a 5 question Kahoot + Yanely's explanation of the current event and why it matters + a discussion prompt to keep the conversation going + additional activity ideas if you want your students to dig deeper. With over 50,000 student Kahoots played since its August launch, FinCap Fridays have...
Best of 2018...PBS Two Cents Personal Finance Videos
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jan 03, 2019
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Video Resource, Budgeting, Behavioral Finance, Financial Scams, Mortgages, Paying for College
PBS Two Cents made a big splash on the scene in 2018. Philip Olson and Julia Lorenz-Olson create engaging videos that do a great job explaining personal finance concepts in ways that your students will understand. We added several of their videos to our video library and you can also hear their story on the NGPF Podcast.
I reached out to Philip today and he was kind enough to share the "top 5" videos he and Julia produced in 2018 (based on Facebook and YouTube views). Beth has also created...
Question of the Day: Where does more holiday fraud happen: online or in physical stores?
Answer: It's a tie, Online and in-store channels were hit equally.
Questions:
Did the results surprise you? Explain.
What are ways that online shoppers can have their identity stolen? Do you know anyone who has been a victim?
Name at least three ways that you can protect yourself from identity theft.
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (from PaymentsSource):
Mobile and e-commerce sales are...
FinCap Friday: 'Tis the Season of Scammers
Know someone who was a victim of a holiday shopping scam? Millions of packages are expected to be delivered this holiday season by the UPS and scammers are ready to take action! This FinCap Friday will help your students spot some of the common holiday shopping scams and learn a few tips for how to avoid them!
Click the image below to access the full resource:
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New to FinCap Fridays? They are a 5-7 minute resource to bring current events to your classroom in a way...
Reading List for December 8-9
Personal Finance
Two articles popped up on this topic this week based on a research paper by economists at the Fed: Millennials are bucking trends not because they don’t want the same things previous generations wanted, but because they can’t afford them. (WAPO) (The Atlantic)
Ever go into a fast food restaurant and find you can’t pay with cash? No problem, unless you don’t have a credit/debit card or smartphone. (NYT)
Financial scammers play on your emotions, among...
FinCap Friday: Who's Calling?
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Nov 08, 2018
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FinCap Fridays, Financial Scams, Identity Theft, Research
Have you noticed an increase in spam calls to your phone? We have too, which is why we decided to focus on it this week in our FinCap Friday segment. Not only are they annoying but they cost consumers billons every year. Yanely provides some sage advice on what to do when that spurious call comes in:
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Did you know that more than $100,000 in cash prizes are available through NGPF's PAYBACK Challenge? Read the details here but please hurry as the deadline is just days away!...
Question of the Day: What percent of Americans bought a lottery ticket in the past year?
Answer: 49%
Questions:
Do you have family or friends who buy lottery tickets? How often do they play? Have they ever won significant jackpots?
Do you think buying lottery tickets is a wise financial decision? Why or why not?
Would it surprise you to know that more people buy lottery tickets than invest in the stock market? Why do you think that is? Remember that overall long-term stock market returns are 7-9% annually while lottery tickets have a negative expected value.
Here's...
Question of the Day: What percent of cellphone calls in 2019 are expected to be from scammers?
Answer: 50%
3 minute video explainer here:
Questions:
Have you noticed a recent increase in robo-calls to your cell phone? Describe any of these scammer calls that you have received.
What are some good rules of thumb when it comes to people calling your cell phone? What information should you NEVER provide anyone over the phone?
Do you have a strategy on how to deal with these calls?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your...
Videos: Brain Games Related to Money
By Tim Ranzetta
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Jun 21, 2018
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Behavioral Finance, Video Resource, Investing, Advertising, Financial Scams
I was just introduced to this National Geographic TV show called Brain Games. We watched an episode today and I am hooked. What makes it compelling? It requires active participation on the part of the viewer and provides a heavy dose of behavioral finance. I am queuing up this list to binge watch one lazy summer afternoon (does that exist?), but thought I would share ahead of this weekend in case someone else :) was motivated to send me a few discussion questions (tim@ngpf.org) that they would...
Question of the Day: What form of identity theft was most common in 2017?
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Apr 26, 2018
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Question of the Day, Financial Scams, Identity Theft, Current Events, Research
Answer: Credit Card Fraud
Questions:
Why do you think credit card fraud is so easy for scammers to commit?
What are two trends that you can spot from analyzing the chart on the previous page?
If someone steals your credit card and makes purchases, are you “on the hook” to pay for them?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the Numbers (FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2017):
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Mini-Activity Idea: How To Avoid Financial Pitfalls
A great article from Of Dollars and Data that highlights six of the "tried and true" methods that make us susceptible to financial trickery or just plain bad decisions. On the subject of trickery, be sure to check out NGPF's release of SIX NEW Financial Pitfalls Projects that will increase your student's savviness.
So what are the six ways of influence described in the article (with the tag lines he provides):
Authority: Trust me I'm an expert.
Commitment and consistency: Just say...
Question of the Day: Who Loses More Money to Financial Fraud? Millennials or Senior Citizens?
Answer: Millennials
Questions:
Do you know any one who has been a victim of a financial scam? Explain.
Why do you think that young people are victims of financial fraud more often then senior citizens?
What are some financial scams that you are aware of?
What are strategies you can come up with to avoid scams?
Here's the ready-to-use slides for classroom use.
Behind the numbers (from FTC Data Book):
Of people who reported their age, those aged 20-29 reported...
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