Investing Unit

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Decide whether to buy, sell, or hold stocks from Ravioli Den
• Experience how current events shape the market and calculate their portfolio value after each round
• Available in English & Spanish

In this activity, students will: 

• Use an online tool to explore annual returns for 9 asset classes over a 15-year period
• Compare the relative performance of asset classes and consider risk vs return in investment strategies

In this activity, students will:

• Make over 40 investment decisions as they allocate their savings between a multitude of investment options
• Receive short in-game lessons explaining the details of the specific investment
• Practice diversifying their portfolio to yield the highest return

In this activity students will be able to: 

• Try to time the market on the Initial Public Offering (IPO) for 7 well-known tech companies using an online interactive
• Calculate their return on investment if they sold their shares today
• Decide whether they think investing in IPOs is a sound investment strategy

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Use an online compound interest calculator to calculate the total amount an individual would have in a savings or retirement account
• Identify what factors impact compounding and how 
• Explain why compounding can be a powerful saving and investing strategy
• Available in English & Spanish

In this activity, students will be able to: 

• Use an online interactive to investigate what stocks and industries make up the S&P 500
• Analyze the returns of the S&P 500
• Grasp the idea of diversification and the value of investing in index funds 

In this activity, students will:

• Explore reasons why many people don't invest
• Analyze investment trends by income, race, and investing experience

In this activity students will be able to: 

• Analyze the data in 3 different types of graphs 
• Explain the importance of investing early for retirement 
• Understand the power of compound interest over time 

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Use an inflation calculator to think about the relationship between interest and inflation.
• Learn why long term saving might not be enough for large purchases in the distant future.
• Available in English & Spanish

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Use an online retirement calculator to explore the relationship between time horizon, income, and savings rate on an individual’s retirement savings goals.
• Available in English & Spanish

In this activity, students will be able to: 

• Examine a number of cartoons about timing the market and choose one to analyze in more depth
• Explain the cartoon's key message about timing the market and how it depicts that message

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Determine what features they value in a brokerage account and then conduct online research to determine which accounts best meet their needs.
• Compare and then select which brokerage account would be best for them.
• Available in English & Spanish

[This activity has no answer key]

In this activity, students will: 

• Compare mutual funds, index funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and target date funds (TDFs)
• Work in groups to conduct research on these investment funds and present their findings to the rest of the class
• Reflect on which investment funds they may be interested in and why

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Learn about pensions, IRAs, Roth IRAs, and 401(k) plans
• And will be able to determine distinguishing features of each.
• Available in English & Spanish

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Walk step-by-step through an example of how dollar cost averaging works
• Conduct online research of historical stock prices
• Use a spreadsheet to examine effects of dollar cost averaging
• Understand how dollar cost averaging benefits them as investors.

With this activity students will be able to:

• Understand how to read a bond market index fund fact sheet from Vanguard
• Identify important elements of a bond, such as level of risk, expense ratio, and interest rates

With this activity students will be able to:

• Read a stock index fund fact sheet
• Understand the most important elements on the fact sheet, including fund description, fees, performance and composition

With this activity students will be able to:

• Read a target date fund fact sheet
• Understand the most important elements on the fact sheet, including fund description, fees, performance and composition

In this whole-class activity, each student receives a card representing a company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Through a series of 5 rounds, students will:

• Combine with other companies
• Assess risk and return along the way
• Eventually create an index fund comprised of the Dow.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Learn about the structure of a popular index composed of the largest companies in the U.S. -- the S&P 500
• Apply their knowledge of index funds through a fun, out-of-their-seats, whole-class challenge

In this activity, students will:

• Hypothesize how many items are in the jar and collaborate with classmates on strategies
• Analyze averages and compare to the actual value
• Explore behavioral finance in a fun and engaging activity

This fun and easy-to-implement game elicits various emotions we feel when we gain, lose, or miss out on investment opportunities and brings to light the psychology behind some of the investment decisions we make.

[This activity has no answer key]

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Look up historical stock prices on Yahoo! Finance
• Create charts and graphs using spreadsheets to compare the yearly values and return on investment (ROI)
• Write a final report on which stock would be the best option
• Available in English & Spanish

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Work in teams and design an investment portfolio appropriate for a 23-year-old
• Conduct online research and present their portfolio either as a written report or a slideshow presentation
• Use investment strategies learned in this lesson/unit

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Read an article of 25 things to know about investing and categorize the items based on their prior knowledge
• Exchange knowledge with a partner to further the learning

[This activity has no answer key]

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Read research on the internet to answer basic questions about retirement age, Social Security, and pension programs.

In this activity, students will:

• Complete a mock 401(k) enrollment form
• Decide how much of their pay to invest
• Assess their own risk tolerance and select funds for their investment

In this activity, students will:

• Determine which type of IRA to sign up for and their contribution amount
• Choose whether to invest by using a robo-advisor, target date fund, or creating their own investment portfolio
• Select a brokerage firm and their IRA investments

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Use function notation to calculate how long it will take an investment to double using the rule of 72.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Calculate return on investment (percent growth) using order of operations.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Use percentages to calculate an investment’s annual growth.
• Apply the compound interest formula to calculate the growth of investments over multiple years.
• Analyze how investment fees impact long-term returns.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Write and solve exponential equation about investment growth over time.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Calculate standard deviation from a data set
• Use standard deviation to compare the risk of investing in stocks and bonds.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Use function composition to determine what percentage of an investor’s portfolio should be invested in stock based on their age.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Use a calculator to find the line-of-best fit for a data set.
• Analyze the key values in a linear regression, including the slope, y-intercept, and r-squared value.
• Use linear regression to analyze and compare short-term stock returns.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Solve multi-step equations using order of operations.
• Apply the formula for yield to maturity to find the rate of return, coupon rate, face value, price, or years to maturity for a bond.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Use a chart of historical stock market returns to analyze the risk of investing over different time horizons.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Compare the best, worst, and average annual returns over a 20 year period for portfolios with a different allocations of stocks and bonds.
• Consider the risks and returns of investing in stocks and bonds.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Analyze a bar chart of the 40-year returns of different asset classes
• Compare the average investor’s returns to the S&P 500 and other investment options.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Analyze a historgram of stock market returns over 90 years.

In this activity, students will be able to:

• Analyze the annual returns of small stocks, large stocks, government bonds and treasury bills over 90 years, compared to inflation.
• Interpret the potential risk of an investment type based on the graph of its long-term returns.