Reading List for June 26-28
Current Events-Stimulus Checks
QOD: What are most people spending their stimulus checks on? Answer: Household expenses. According to a Census Bureau Household Pulse survey, 85.5% answered this way. Of those earning between $75,000and $99,000 who got a prorated check, checks were more likely be used to pay down debt or saved.
If you have a family member in a nursing home, you might want to be sure the nursing home didn’t try to pocket your loved one’s check. (WAPO-1).
The...
NGPF Podcast: Meredith Curry on navigating the financial aid process in age of pandemic
Meredith "Mer" Curry has a commitment to serving first-gen college students that comes from a very natural place. She was once in their shoes and benefited greatly from the support of others as she pursued her educational dreams. Mer shares her story and her passion to serve others as well as some timely tips and online tools to help families navigate the college financing process during these uncertain times. Enjoy!
Details:
0:00~1:13 Introduction
1:13~2:38 Working as a social justice...
Question of the Day: What's the new interest rate on federal student loans for 2020-21 school year?
Answer: 2.75%
Questions:
How does this interest rate for undergraduates (at 4 year colleges) compare to historical averages?
How does the interest rates on graduate loans (GradPLUS) and parent loans (PLUS) compare to undergraduate loans?
Reading the footnotes on the graph, what determines the interest rate on federal student loans and how often is this rate adjusted?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use with your students.
Behind...
Reading List for May 15-17
By Beth Tallman
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May 15, 2020
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Current Events, Economics, Investing, Student Loans, Identity Theft
Economics
Unemployment claims totaled close to 3 million this past week, bringing the pandemic total to over 36 million jobs lost. (CNBC)
State unemployment systems can’t handle the volume of applications, and many are still waiting for benefits. Here is the story of one New Yorker: (CNBC)
You can probably guess which retail sectors were hardest hit in April. Here are the US Retail Sales stats for April: (NPR-read or listen)
The drop in CPI last month was the largest ever. (USA Today)...
Reading List for May 8-10
By Beth Tallman
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May 08, 2020
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Current Events, Employment, Economics, Investing, Student Loans, Personal Finance
The country took time to recognize some VIPS this week: Teachers and Nurses, and Mothers will have their day on Sunday. “Thank You” seems an inadequate expression of our gratitude, especially now! You (teachers) inspire me with your energy, creativity, and agility in providing quality instruction and heartfelt support for your students during this challenging time.
And now for the reading list:
Unemployment
Unemployment reached historic levels in April of 14.7%....
NGPF Podcast: Ikenna Okoro provides student perspective on why financial education matters
Listen to NGPF Intern and Columbia University student Ikenna Okoro as he explains why personal finance is so important to him. After his brief interview with Yanely, Ikenna interviews NGPF Payback Challenge winner Nery Rodriguez. When it comes to advocacy, there is nothing more powerful than student voice. Enjoy!
0:36~10:17 Kenna’s Korner Episode 1: NGPF's Yanely Espinal Interviews Ikenna
0:36~1:33 What is this podcast about?
1:33~2:35 How Ikenna got involved with NGPF
2:35~3:20...
Question of the Day: What percent of college-going high school seniors are changing their plans because of coronavirus?
Answer: 17%
Here's how the 17% are changing their plans:
Questions:
How is coronavirus impacting your post-high school plans?
How do you think that coronavirus will impact the willingness of colleges to negotiate financial aid?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (Art and Science Group):
...
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 March 27-29
Coronavirus Pandemic coverage this week includes articles on the soon-to-be stimulus bill, actions by the Federal Reserve, unemployment statistics, the stock market volatility, and potential implications for student loans.
Stimulus Bill
What is in it, and what is not. The NYT provides the answers with an FAQ.
Will you qualify to a direct payment? (WaPo) provides a calculator for stimulus checks.
If you don’t need your stimulus check to pay bills, what should you do with it? Save it...
Question of the Day: Rank order from most to least prevalent these credit products used by Gen Z (18-24): Student Loan, Auto Loan, Credit Card.
Answer:
Note: Private label = store credit card
Questions:
What is your current attitude toward credit products?
Do you anticipate using any of these products?
If so, at what age do you think you will start using them?
Describe what it means to use credit products responsibly.
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the numbers (TransUnion research):
Many younger consumers receive smaller credit limits...
QoD [UPDATED]: What percent of graduates leave college with student loan debt?
Answer: 65% of Class of 2018 had student debt when they graduated [latest data available from TICAS] with an average debt of $29,200
Questions:
Why do you think that so many students need to take out student loans to pay for college?
What are other ways that students can pay for college?
Do you think taking on student debt is a positive or a negative? Develop a list of pros and cons.
How would you compare it to credit card debt or auto loans?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this...
TEACHER TIP - ANALYZE: A Student Aid Report (SAR)
Amanda Volz brings you a Teacher Tip video on the activity ANALYZE: A Student Aid Report (SAR). This activity has students answer questions while reviewing a sample Student Aid Report and understand the importance of the SAR in the financial aid process. In this video, Amanda discusses how she used this activity in her classroom and provides some tips for you to use it with your students!
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Did you know that we have 35 of these Teacher Tip Videos on our YouTube...
QoD [UPDATED]: Excluding home loans, what are the three largest debts for American consumers?
Answer:
Student loan - $1.5 trillion
Auto loan - $1.32 trillion
Credit Card - $0.85 trillion
Questions:
Which type of credit has grown the fastest from 2004-2019? Why do you think this is the case?
Using the chart, estimate the growth rate (in trillions of dollars) between 2004-19 for student loans, auto loans and credit cards.
What impact did the Great Recession (2008-09) have on debt levels? Do you think people tend to borrow more or less when a recession occurs? ...
Reading List for January 3-5 (2020!)
Happy New Year! This week's list includes a few articles reflecting back on the the past decade, as well as reflections on personal financial health and habits.
If you want an incredibly comprehensive look at what transpired in 2019, Barbara O'Neill has your back in this Journal of Financial Planning article, 2019 Personal Finance Year in Review.
Financial Literacy
The emphasis in this article is moving the financial education much earlier in a child’s development. (Education Dive)...
Updated QoD: What percentage of students who started college in 2013 graduated within 6 years?
Answer: 60%
Here's the earlier QoD blog post that had data for the 2012 cohort. Slides have been updated to reflect up-to-date information.
Questions:
Which school type has the lowest graduation rates? Which school type has the highest graduation rates?
What might explain these large differences in graduation rates?
What has been the trend in graduation rates over the last 3-4 years for the public and private non-profit colleges?
What do you think are the leading reasons that...
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