Personal Finance
The six personal finance topics, broken into one lesson per standard across grades 4, 8, and 12.
135 lessons · 27 grade 4 · 40 grade 8 · 68 grade 12
Earning Income
27 lessons
Grade 4
- EI.4-1Different People, Different Jobs8 min · 3 questions
- EI.4-2Getting Better, Earning More9 min · 3 questions
- EI.4-3Four Ways People Get Paid9 min · 3 questions
- EI.4-4Being Your Own Boss8 min · 3 questions
- EI.4-5Earning Money From Things You Own8 min · 3 questions
- EI.4-6Money You Did Not Work For8 min · 3 questions
- EI.4-7Taxes and the Things We Share8 min · 3 questions
Grade 8
- EI.8-1Careers, Not Just Jobs12 min · 4 questions
- EI.8-2Decisions That Shape What You Earn13 min · 4 questions
- EI.8-3Human Capital: Why Skills Raise Pay14 min · 4 questions
- EI.8-4What Training Really Costs You14 min · 4 questions
- EI.8-5Gross Pay, Net Pay, and Everything In Between14 min · 4 questions
- EI.8-6Social Security: Who Pays In, Who Gets Paid13 min · 4 questions
- EI.8-7Almost All Income Gets Taxed13 min · 4 questions
- EI.8-8The Safety Net: Government Income Support14 min · 4 questions
- EI.8-9Why People Work for Themselves14 min · 4 questions
Grade 12
- EI.12-1Total Compensation: Beyond the Number on the Offer Letter18 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-2The Benefits That Never Show Up on a Paycheck20 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-3Investing in Yourself: Weighing the Cost of More Education or Training20 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-4Why Pay Differs: Skills, Productivity, and the Gaps Economists Study20 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-5When the Ground Shifts: Economic Conditions, Technology, and Your Job20 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-6What Taxes Pay For and Who Collects Them18 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-7What You Actually Pay: Income Sources, Spending, and Your Tax Bill20 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-8Earned and Unearned Income: Why the Source of a Dollar Changes Its Tax20 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-9Credits, Deductions, and the W-4: How Tax Liability Actually Gets Reduced20 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-10The Legs of a Retirement: Where Income Comes From When the Paychecks Stop20 min · 4 questions
- EI.12-11Working for Yourself: Gig Work, Small Business, and the Costs Nobody Advertises20 min · 4 questions
Investing
23 lessons
Grade 4
Grade 8
- IN.8-1Two Ways an Investment Can Pay You14 min · 4 questions
- IN.8-2The Menu: Common Types of Financial Assets14 min · 4 questions
- IN.8-3Bonds: You Are the Lender10 min · 4 questions
- IN.8-4Stocks: Owning a Piece of a Business14 min · 4 questions
- IN.8-5Pooled Investments: Buying the Basket Instead of the Apple14 min · 4 questions
- IN.8-6Ranking Investments by Risk14 min · 4 questions
- IN.8-7Compounding: Why Ten Years Early Beats More Money Later14 min · 4 questions
Grade 12
- IN.12-1Risk Tolerance: Knowing What You Can Actually Live With20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-2Calculating Return: Cash Flows Plus Price Change20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-3The Risk-Return Trade-off and Why It Is Not a Promise20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-4Nominal vs. Real Returns: What Inflation Quietly Takes20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-5What Moves Asset Prices: Information, Rates, and Demand20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-6Diversification and Asset Allocation: Matching a Mix to a Goal20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-7Investment Costs: The Fees That Compound Against You20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-8How Taxes Shape Investment Returns20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-9Behavioral Biases: Why Smart Investors Make Predictable Mistakes20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-10Automation as a Defense Against Your Own Worst Instincts20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-11Discount Brokers, Robo-Advisors, and Who Pays for Free20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-12Regulators, Disclosure, and Why Insider Trading Is Illegal20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-13Benchmarks: Measuring Performance Against Something Real20 min · 4 questions
- IN.12-14Choosing a Financial Professional: Credentials, Standards, and Cost20 min · 4 questions
Managing Credit
23 lessons
Grade 4
Grade 8
- CR.8-1Not All Lenders Charge the Same14 min · 4 questions
- CR.8-2APR: The Number Lenders Have to Show You14 min · 4 questions
- CR.8-3Longer Loans, Bigger Totals14 min · 4 questions
- CR.8-4Why Credit Cards Cost More Than Car Loans14 min · 4 questions
- CR.8-5Your Credit Report and the Price You Pay14 min · 4 questions
- CR.8-6Borrowing to Invest Versus Borrowing to Consume14 min · 4 questions
- CR.8-7Reading the Warning Signs of Too Much Debt14 min · 4 questions
Grade 12
- CR.12-1Comparing the True Cost of Credit20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-2Secured and Unsecured: What Collateral Changes20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-3What Determines a Mortgage Payment20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-4Building a Funding Package for Education After High School20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-5Federal Versus Private Student Loans20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-6How a Down Payment Changes a Loan20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-7Credit Reports and the Bureaus That Keep Them20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-8What a Credit Score Measures and What Moves It20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-9Who Else Reads Your Credit Report20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-10Getting Help When Debt Becomes Unmanageable20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-11Bankruptcy as a Legal Process20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-12Consumer Credit Protection Laws20 min · 4 questions
- CR.12-13Alternative Financial Services and Their Costs20 min · 4 questions
Managing Risk
23 lessons
Grade 4
Grade 8
- RI.8-1When One Bad Event Reaches Everything14 min · 4 questions
- RI.8-2Paying a Premium to Hand Off a Risk14 min · 4 questions
- RI.8-3The Risk Pool: Many Payers, Few Claimants14 min · 4 questions
- RI.8-4Premium, Deductible, Copayment, Coinsurance14 min · 4 questions
- RI.8-5Four Ways to Handle a Risk14 min · 4 questions
- RI.8-6Extended Warranties at the Checkout Counter14 min · 4 questions
- RI.8-7Identity Theft: Recognizing It and Guarding Against It14 min · 4 questions
Grade 12
- RI.12-1Risk Tolerance and the Price of Peace of Mind20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-2Why the Same Policy Fits One Person and Not Another20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-3When Coverage Is Not Optional20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-4What Actually Moves a Premium20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-5Health Coverage, Employer Plans, and Out-of-Pocket Math20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-6Insuring the Ability to Earn20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-7Property, Liability, and What a Policy Actually Pays For20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-8Life Insurance and the Financial Consequences of a Death20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-9Public Insurance: Unemployment, Medicaid, and Medicare20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-10Insurance Fraud and Its Legal Consequences20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-11Identity Theft: Recognizing It and Responding to It20 min · 4 questions
- RI.12-12Extended Warranties as Insurance: Pooling, Loading, and Expected Value20 min · 4 questions
Saving
20 lessons
Grade 4
Grade 8
- SV.8-1What People Actually Save For14 min · 4 questions
- SV.8-2Why Saving Is Easier for Some People14 min · 4 questions
- SV.8-3How Banks Actually Make Money14 min · 4 questions
- SV.8-4Principal, Interest, and the Rule of 7214 min · 4 questions
- SV.8-5Simple Interest vs. Compound Interest14 min · 4 questions
- SV.8-6Federal Deposit Insurance14 min · 4 questions
Grade 12
- SV.12-1Savings Accounts, Money Markets, and CDs20 min · 4 questions
- SV.12-2Why Deposit Rates Move20 min · 4 questions
- SV.12-3Mobile Payment and Cryptocurrency Accounts Are Not Savings Accounts20 min · 4 questions
- SV.12-4Inflation, Real Returns, and I Bonds20 min · 4 questions
- SV.12-5Who Regulates Banks and Credit Unions20 min · 4 questions
- SV.12-6How Tax Policy Rewards Saving20 min · 4 questions
- SV.12-7Employer Retirement Plans, Matches, and HSAs20 min · 4 questions
- SV.12-8Talking About Money Before Combining Finances20 min · 4 questions
- SV.12-9Obstacles to Saving and Strategies That Work20 min · 4 questions
Spending
19 lessons
Grade 4
- SP.4-1Everybody Wants Something Different8 min · 3 questions
- SP.4-2Spending on Yourself, Spending on Everyone8 min · 3 questions
- SP.4-3What You Give Up When You Choose8 min · 3 questions
- SP.4-4The Same Purchase Is Not the Same Deal for Everyone8 min · 3 questions
- SP.4-5Who Is Really Deciding What You Buy?8 min · 3 questions
- SP.4-6Four Ways to Pay8 min · 3 questions
Grade 8
Grade 12
- SP.12-1A Budget That Survives Contact With Reality20 min · 4 questions
- SP.12-2What Actually Drives a Purchase Decision20 min · 4 questions
- SP.12-3Buying Things Meant to Last20 min · 4 questions
- SP.12-4How Prices Are Presented, and When They Are Negotiable20 min · 4 questions
- SP.12-5The Cost and Payoff of Doing Your Homework20 min · 4 questions
- SP.12-6Renting, Buying, and What a Lease Actually Says20 min · 4 questions
- SP.12-7Giving Money, Things, and Time20 min · 4 questions
- SP.12-8Who Protects Consumers, and What to Do When Something Goes Wrong20 min · 4 questions
- SP.12-9A Record-Keeping System You Will Actually Maintain20 min · 4 questions
Aligned to National Standards for Personal Financial Education (CEE & Jump$tart Coalition, 2021). Copyright © 2021 Council for Economic Education and Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. Standards and benchmarks reproduced for non-commercial educational purposes. Lesson content, activities, teacher notes, and quiz questions are original works and are not part of the standards documents.