Savings QoD: How much (in billions of dollars) are Americans losing by keeping their money in low-interest savings accounts?
Answer: $50 billion
Questions:
Why do you think Americans leave their money in low-interest savings accounts when they could earn more by switching banks?
Would your answer to the previous question change based on the amount of money you had in your savings account?
Online banks tend to have the highest interest rates on savings accounts. Would you trust your money with an online bank?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you...
QoD: What age group has seen the greatest increase in credit scores since 2008: 18-21 year olds, 22-35 year olds or consumers 72 and older?
Answer: 18-21 year olds saw an increase of 23 points in the past decade.
Credit score changes since 2008
18-21 year olds: 23 point increase to 639 in 2018
22-35 year olds: 15 point increase to 644
72 and over: 40 point drop to 732
Questions:
The CARD Act passed by Congress in 2009 reduced teen access to credit cards. What impact do you think this had on credit scores for 18-21 year olds since it passed?
What relationship do you see between age and credit scores? Why do you think...
Reading List for May 31-June 2
By Tim Ranzetta
|
May 31, 2019
|
Investing, Credit Cards, Behavioral Finance, Budgeting, Research, Retirement
From 403(b) plans to goal setting to digital decluttering and graduation advice...enjoy these weekend reads with your favorite cup of joe:
Thinking that annuity in your 403(b) is gouging you? You are probably right (from Barrons): "Teachers’ 403(b) plans are sold directly to individuals, rather than to employers, so the interest of the salesman was coming first. “Imagine you’re a kindergarten teacher and they’ve given you a 400-page prospectus about variable...
QoD: Which credit card feature is most popular with consumers: 0% interest, 3% cash back or $500 cash sign-up bonus?
Hat tip to Beth Tallman for pointing out this study from Bankrate which is full of great question material:)
Answer: 3% cashback
Questions:
Why do you think the 3% cash back feature is so popular with cardholders?
Do you think the most popular feature might differ for those carrying a large credit card balance (i.e., you were not paying off your credit card bill every month)? Why or why not?
Which would you choose if deciding between these three features? Explain your answer. ...
QoD: Which credit score band has the highest percentage of people: 670-739, 740-799, 800-850?
Answer: 670-739 with 21.5% of people in that range
Questions:
What are some of the disadvantages of having a low credit score?
What are some advantages of having a high credit score?
Why do lenders use credit scores? How is this information helpful in running their business?
What is your strategy to develop a high credit score?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (Financial Samurai):
Your credit score ranges...
NGPF Analysis: Florida Financial Literacy Bill Will Reduce Number of Students Receiving Financial Education
Much ink has been spilt recently about the legislation in Florida that is awaiting the Governor's signature. With headlines like this, "Legislature approves mandatory financial literacy classes in honor of late senator," you might be surprised to discover that this bill actually REDUCES the number of students receiving financial education in the short-term and potentially the long-term too. So, while legislators are taking victory laps and touting their talking points that celebrate this...
QoD: What category of worker has doubled since the 1980s: Manufacturing, Service, or Knowledge?
Answer: Knowledge
Examples of various types of workers:
Routine cognitive workers = bookkeepers, filing clerks, bank tellers
Routine manual workers = assembly line workers or workers in warehouse
Nonroutine manual workers = service occupations
Questions:
In your own words, what is a knowledge worker?
What are examples of the types of jobs that a knowledge worker has?
How do you prepare to become a knowledge worker?
Which job types tend to be most affected by a...
Question of the Day: What’s the #1 way scammers receive money from unsuspecting consumers: Credit Card, Wire Transfer, or Bank Account Debit?
Answer: Wire Transfer
Questions:
Why do you think this is the easiest method for scammers to receive money?
How can you avoid getting caught up in this kind of situation?
Can you get your money back once you have wired it to someone who you later discover is a fraud?
Go to Bank Wire Transfer Safety to get your answer
Do you generally feel safe sending money via Paypal/Venmo? Explain your answer.
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of...
April 2019: What's New With Taxes?
To answer the question above: Quite a bit.
Beth Tallman provides a detailed response to the question below with links to lots of great sources of information. Thank you for tackling this challenging topic Beth!
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The Atlantic summed up the 2018 tax filing season pretty accurately with the title of their article on the subject in March: “Taxpayers are Very Confused. “ The CBS News article is similarly titled, “Americans shocked by impact of the new tax...
Chart of the Week: Most Common Types of Medical Bills (For Those Struggling to Pay Them)
Questions:
What are the top 3 medical bills when it comes to their dollar amounts?
Which bills fits into the category of high frequency but low cost?
Which of the bills listed would you describe as "predictable?"
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Looking for more Charts of the Week? It's a regular weekly feature and here's some of the recent ones.
...
QoD: Who has the highest credit score between the ages of 18 and 30?
Answer: 18 year olds with average FICO score of 713
Questions:
Based on the chart above, why do you think that 18 year olds have the highest credit score among 18-30 year olds?
Between what two ages do you see the sharpest drop? What do you think happened to cause this drop?
What are steps that you can take to have a high credit score when you are 18?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (from...
QoD: Can you name ONE of the most Googled money questions for 2018?
Hat tip to Beth Tallman for sending this one along.
Answer: Here are the top 5:
5. How much is my house worth?
4. What is bitcoin?
3. How to write a check?
2. How much house can I afford?
1. Where is my tax refund?
Questions:
What money question are you most curious about right now?
Why do you think that so many people are preoccupied with their tax refund?
Are you surprised to see any of these top 5 most Googled questions on this list?
Why do you think that two of the top 5...
QoD: How much of a decline in performance (in percent) comes from sitting next to a low performer at work?
Answer: 30% decline in performance
Questions:
Why do you think sitting next to a low performer reduces the performance of someone sitting next to them?
In an open office environment, what types of behaviors would you expect to see from a low performer?
If you were assigned a desk next to a low performer what would you do now that you have this knowledge?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (from Outside)...
Chart of the Week: How does the average American household spend their money?
From our friends at Visual Capitalist:
Questions:
What is the largest income source for American households?
What percent of a household's income covers federal, state and local taxes?
What is the savings rate for the average American household (Hint: Divide Savings by Total Income to establish the savings rate)?
What are the five largest costs? Do you think these five costs are wants or needs?
One rule of thumb is that you shouldn't spend more than 30% of your...
QoD: What percent of credit card applications are declined?
Answer: 14.4%
Questions:
Do you think this number is higher or lower for 18-24 year-olds? Why?
Why do you think are the reasons that consumers applications for credit are turned down?
How do you think this percentage has changed since the Great Recession? Do you think banks and other lenders change their criteria over time as they determine who to/not to lend to?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (from Value...
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