Introduction
Worried about finances? Well...you should be! No matter how old or young you are, money just makes the world go around, so it is imperative that you learn how to make the most of it now.
You will research and choose a career. Based on the monthly salary of your chosen career, you will make financial decisions and create a budget. You will need to assess if your income is enough to support your lifestyle. So let's get all of your financial eggs in one basket!
Task
You will be completing a variety of tasks in order to get a better understanding of your finances. The process will consist of four parts:
- Part #1 requires you to take several career interest surveys, and pick a career. After choosing a career, you will need to research the education needed to work in your chosen vocation. You will also need to determine your career's salary prospects.
- Part #2 requires you to investigate the type of degree you need for your career, how many years it will take you to accomplish the degree, which colleges have this degree available and the cost of the degree, depending on the college you choose.
- Part #3 requires you to investigate the difference of buying a house or renting an apartment. You will need to decide where you would like to live so you can determine the cost of living in that area and provide yourself with appropriate transportation.
- Part #4offers the opportunity and instructions needed to create a budget.
- Part #5 is a short introduction into savings.
Process
Thursday, May 17th
Part I Career
1. Complete Career Alphabet Worksheet
2. Complete Career Interest Survey on Naviance
Use the following websites for career research:
http://www.careerprofiles.info/
https://www.thebalancecareers.com
http://www.infojug.com/career-articles/list-different-careers-salaries.html
Friday, May 18th
1. Continue to review your career possibilities from the Career Interest Survey you took on the Naviance website.
2. Select several careers you are suited for and interested in, fill out the first 2 pages of the Financial Planning Worksheet for each of at least 4 careers. Use the 4 websites from above and the following
https://www.bls.gov/k12/content/students/careers/career-exploration.htm
3. After your further exploration make sure you add your favorite career choices to Naviance.
Monday, May 21st
1) Continue filling out the Financial Planning Worksheet for at least 4 careers.
2) After you finish #1, fill out the career/college worksheet(I already printed it out for you) which requires you to use the Naviance website to find out what degree you need for your career, how long it will take you to earn this particular degree, and how much it may cost. If you can not answer these questions on Naviance, then you will have to google the college directly.
Tuesday May 22nd
Part 2 Living Expenses
1. Select three cities where you might live after you attend college. Using the following site, http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/index.html, fill out the Cost of Living Worksheet.
2. Use the following websites to fill out the last 3 pages of the Financial Planning Worksheet which you started on Friday.
https://www.apartmentfinder.com/
Wednesday No School Graduation
Thursday May 24th
Catch up day
Part 3 Transportation Expenses - Extra Credit
https://www.onlineloancalculator.org/
Friday May 25th
Part 4 Budget
Do the Budget Worksheet
Read through Dave Ramsey's advice on starting a budget, then sign up for his free online budgeting tool. Read 15 Practical Budgeting Tips.
https://www.daveramsey.com/get-started/budget
Part 5 Savings - Extra Credit
http://www.calcxml.com/do/retirement-calculator
https://www.econedlink.org/interactives/EconEdLink-interactive-tool-player.php?iid=2
Final, May 29th Finish and Turn in Portfolio
Evaluation
Total Financial Portfolio Project (200 points)
I. Required Elements: (160 points)
1. Covered Portfolio (5 points)
2. Title Page (5 points)
3. Table of Contents (10 points)
4. Assigned pages:
a. Career Alphabet (10 points)
b. Career Interest Survey (10 points)
c. Chosen Career/Research/Salary (10 points)
d. Renting VS. Owning a Home Packet (20 points)
e. Car Loan Calculation (10 points)
f. Cost of Living Worksheet (10 points)
g. Car Loan Project (20 points)
h. Budget Exercise - College Graduate Packet (20 points)
i. Create a Personal Budget Worksheet (10 points)
j. Outline of "The Truth about Budgeting" (10 points)
k. Financial Portolio - Conclusion WS (10 points)
II. Evaluation Rubric (40 points)
| Category |
10 Great Work |
8 Good Work |
6 Satisfactory |
4 Could Be Better |
2 Missed the Mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Overall Presentation |
The portfolio is exceptionally attractive in design, layout and neatness | The portfolio is complete, and is attractive in design, layout and neatness | The portfolio is complete, though it is not developed in design, layout and neatness | The portfolio is incomplete, and is not developed in design, layout and neatness | The portfolio is incomplete, has many errors and is poorly constructed in design, layout and neatness |
| Content - Completion | Pages are complete | Over 80% of the pages are complete | Over 60% of the pages are complete | Over 40% of the pages are complete | Less than 40% of the pages are complete |
| Organization | Logically organized | Clear plan of organization, may contain some minor deviations | Shows evidence of organization, though the plan is not carried throughout work | Shows some sign of organization, though the plan is not clear, and hard to follow | Does not show any significant plan of organization, work sequencing difficult to follow |
| Use of time | Used all class time wisely | Used most of class time wisely | Used a sufficient amount of class time wisely | Used some of class time wisely | Did not use class time wisely |
Conclusion
Now that you have viewed a variety of articles, videos and games on the personal finance topics covered in class and worked on the development of a mock portfolio, you can hopefully move forward to make smart financial decisions in your own life. Feel free to come back to this webquest for practice any time!