Question of the Day (Updated): How much more does a TV cost from a Rent-To-Own retailer than upfront in cash?
We have all heard of rent-to-own stores and how you can purchase a large TV for only a small monthly payment! I did some digging to find out how much it would cost to rent-to-own a brand new 65in HDTV. Here is what I found:
Answer: $1,000.10 more to rent-to-own
(After 21 monthly payments of $86.63 I would pay $1,000.10 more than the original cash price of $799)
View more rent-to-own merchandise at rentacenter.com
How do rent-to-own stores work? (finder.com)
Rent-to-own stores are a way to get...
What's New With Financial Pitfalls 2020
Scams and Fraud
This episode of NPR’s Planet Money discusses the “price of a hack” by relating what happened when an employee of a company fell for a “phishing” email. The costs to a company, especially one that deals with confidential financial information, can be huge! The solution turns out to be an age-old, low tech one: insurance! Cyber Insurance to be exact.
In any crisis, scammers jump on the opportunity to prey on peoples’...
EdPuzzle Thursday: Scams
EdPuzzle is a great platform to test for knowledge while students watch a video and learn remotely. We will be releasing new EdPuzzle videos here on the blog each week so that your students can answer questions that are directly embedded within engaging videos.
This week we have two EdPuzzle videos both focusing on scams.
The first EdPuzzle video titled "How to Spot Scams" discusses the characteristics of common types of scams.
In the second EdPuzzle video titled...
Reading List for August 7-9
By Beth Tallman
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Aug 07, 2020
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Personal Finance, Economics, Investing, Paying for College, Financial Scams
Personal Finance
This one got some press: The Cincinnati Bengals reports that top draft pick, Joe Burrow, plans to live off of his endorsement income (not too shabby), and bank (invest?) his $23.9 million signing bonus as well as his $36.2 million four-year contract. (BengalsWire)
But for 59% of young Americans, Millennials and Gen Z, the pandemic has totally derailed their financial lives. (USA Today)
Economics in the times of Covid
The July unemployment rate dropped to...
Question of the Day: Can you name at least 5 of the 10 most common passwords people use?
Answer:
Questions:
What was most surprising to you about the list of the top 10 most common passwords?
What are some steps a person can take to make their passwords more secure?
Why do you think so many people use these passwords that are easy to hack?
Are there any passwords you currently use that you may need to change because they are too simple?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use with your students.
Behind the numbers (CNN):
If...
Reading List for April 3-5
Current times are impacting every aspect of our financial lives, so this week’s list is a bit longer than usual, allowing you to decide what is relevant in your world at the moment.
Economics/Federal Reserve: The view of what is going on and how the Federal Reserve is working to mitigate the economic hits from this crisis has been presented by regional Federal Reserve Presidents:
Neel Kashkari (Minneapolis) compares the 2008 response to this year’s stimulus bill in an Op-Ed piece...
Reading List for November 22-24
By Beth Tallman
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Nov 22, 2019
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Advocacy, Financial Literacy, Paying for College, Career, Financial Scams, Investing, Retirement
Financial Literacy and Advocacy
ICYMI, Tim Ranzetta had two pieces hit Marketwatch this week. The first is an article explaining how excellent teachers will drive the financial literacy movement, and highlights several teachers you will recognize. The second is an opinion piece in which Tim quantifies the value of a high school personal finance class.
Study Breaks’ Daniel Reed concurs with the need to make Personal Finance a high school graduation requirement.
Workers consistently...
Video: Three Brain Games Videos Demonstrate Why We Fall for Scams
Here's a few Brain Games videos that I watched over the weekend that can help students uncover scams:
Pigeon Drop
Con Artist Handbook
The Scam Illusion
Questions
Have you ever fallen for a scam?
What techniques do these scam artists use in these videos to con people?
Which of the three scams do you think you would most likely have fallen for?
What lessons can you learn from these videos so that you are not conned?
--------------------
Create A Financial Scam...
Reading List for November 1-3
By Beth Tallman
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Nov 01, 2019
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Entrepreneurship, Economics, Investing, Credit Cards, Paying for College, Retirement, Financial Scams
Entrepreneurship
An excellent retrospective on the contributions of Peter Drucker on what would have been his 100th birthday. (INC)
How does owning your own business or working in the gig economy impact how your kids will view the world of work and finances? (WAPO)
Economics
Economics news this week included another Federal Reserve Rate cut. What does that mean for your credit card, mortgage, etc.? (USA Today)
And the October Jobs report came out today. USA Today explains the...
QoD: The most common scams in the U.S. are _____________.
It's the Halloween season, so here are some tricks to watch out for when shopping online.
Answer: Online purchases
Learn more about online purchase scams from Marketplace: mp_20191028_seg_19_64 (1)
Here are the top product categories for online purchase fraud:
Questions:
Why do you think that pets are the product category that scams the most people?
What are warning signs that something could be a scam?
What are some tips to avoid becoming a victim?
Where are...
Reading List for October 18-20
By Beth Tallman
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Oct 18, 2019
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Current Events, Financial Literacy, Cryptocurrencies, Student Loans, Financial Scams, Career, Budgeting, Taxes
Financial Wellness
Rather than focusing on life events, banks are now basing their products and marketing on everyday financial decisions, getting into the financial wellness business. (The Financial Brand)
Is your credit card debt making you sick? A detailed study by CarefulCents.com finds the answer if “yes.” (PRNewswire)
Economics/ Crypto-Currency
Here is an article from The Economist that discusses the demise of cash across the world’s economies. (For more detail...
Reading List for October 11-13
By Beth Tallman
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Oct 11, 2019
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Behavioral Finance, Cryptocurrencies, Investing, Financial Scams, Career, Retirement
Behavioral Finance
An interesting dive into gender and money: The Myth of the Frivolous Female Spender (NYT)
FinTech
A longer read from Knowledge@Wharton discussing how FinTech may be helping the underbanked and unbanked. The risk is that many of these services fly under any regulatory radar.
Crypto-currencies
Mark Zuckerberg will face Congress to talk about Facebook’s proposed crypto-currency Libra. He will face a tough crowd, (Axios) and now several backers (Visa,...
Sorry...but I have to vent
August 21, 2019
Dear Jamie Dimon [Chase CEO],
I applaud your leadership role on the Business Roundtable and your recent commitment to creating value for stakeholders other than just your shareholders. Earlier this week, you were quoted as saying that this shift away from a shareholder only focus “will help to set a new standard for corporate leadership.”
Given your renewed focus on customers and setting new standards for leadership, I thought I would offer a suggestion on one policy...
What's New With Financial Pitfalls? (August 2019)
For College Students
Once students turn eighteen, they are legally adults. Their parents no longer have a say in their health care or legal decisions (or grades—unless you and your student sign a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) waiver.) So what happens if the student has a medical or financial emergency? An article from Kiplinger has been gaining traction as it advises families to get four legal documents in place when a child turns 18. Many are documents that are...
Reading List for August 16-18
By Beth Tallman
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Aug 16, 2019
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Current Events, Parent Conversations, Paying for College, Investing, Economics, Retirement, Student Loans, Financial Scams, Insurance
As your former students or maybe your own children are heading off to college for the first time, here is some sage advice for them.
Having taught at a college for several years, and living amongst the students for even longer, I cannot agree more with the tips offered by a college professor in this MarketWatch article, like show up for class, turn off the phone, and go to office hours! I like the cartoons too!
And here is one for the parents. Once your child turns 18, their...
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