Basic Financial Management Curriculum

1. Budget Development
1. Emotions and money. How your parents, early financial experiences, your spouse, and any previous financial education affect how you think about and manage money today.
2. Setting short-term and long-term financial goals, as well as developing skills to assist in achieving these goals.
3. Calculating gross monthly income and net monthly income. How mortgage and other lending companies qualify you for a loan.
4. Identifying and classifying monthly expenses as fixed, variable, or periodic. We distribute handouts and matrixes to complete.
5. Identifying and classifying savings – emergency (for immediate needs), short-term (college, car, new roof), and long-term (retirement, investing).
2. Money Management
1. Financial institutions; Banks, Credit Unions, Loan Companies – how they work, what they do, why they are needed. Get Checking program for helping unbanked students establish a mainstream banking relationship.
2. Keeping adequate and accurate financial records, especially for debit and credit cards.
3. Developing decision-making skills required to distinguish between wants and needs, and to comparison shop for goods and services.
4. Maintaining appropriate levels of life and health insurance coverage, taking into account the types and costs of insurance.
5. Basics of investing (stocks, CD’s, bonds, etc.).
3. Wise Use of Credit
1. The types, sources, and costs of credit and loans.
2. Examples of how to read a credit card application.
3. How to opt out of prescreened credit card offers.
4. Identifying debt warning signs.
5. Appropriate use of credit and alternatives to credit use.
6. How to obtain and read a credit report. Importance of obtaining and keeping a good credit score. How to repair your credit and how to correct credit report errors.
4. Consumer Information
1. Identity theft and fraud.
2. Predatory lending practices associated with Rapid Refund Loans, Pay Day Lending, Car Title Loans, Pawn Shops, Rent-to-Own, etc.
3. Earned Income Tax Credits and VITA sites.
4. Comparison shopping using ads and coupons.
5. Public and non-profit resources for consumer assistance.
6. Acceptable consumer protection laws and regulations, such as those governing correction of a credit record and protection against consumer fraud.