Classroom Resources / High School

Unit 5

Paying Yourself First

Once young people start earning money, they may have difficulty determining how to allocate it. This unit will provide your students with the tools for saving money, setting saving goals, and growing savings through interest.

Educator Guide: Unit 5

Family Connection

Individual and Family Savings Goals

10-minute read, plus discussion

This guide will help parents discuss their families’ savings goals and assist their teens in setting ones for themselves. Families will also find tips and links on saving strategies.

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Topic 1

Deciding to Save Money

Students will create timelines that represent their futures and consider how they will earn and spend money 5, 25, and 50 years from now. Using an online savings calculator, students will explore the impact of saving early and the importance of compound interest.

Self-paced Module

Deciding to Save Money

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

In this module, students learn - through the experiences of others -why it is both helpful and advantageous to start saving at least some of the money they receive or earn and to continue saving throughout their lives. In addition to exploring the concept of opportunity costs, students will also learn strategies to help reframe their decisions about spending and saving as they explore ways to grow their savings, over time, through interest.

Launch Module

Classroom Activity

Spend Now or Spend Later?

1 to 2 Class Sessions

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Supplemental Resource Links

Choosing to Save

University of Arizona's Take Charge Today

This lesson focuses on the reasons people decide to save money and encourages students to develop a savings plan. (To access these resources, you will need to register for a free account and verify that you are an educator. Once logged in, the link above will take you directly to the resource.)

Why Are We So Impatient? A Look into Money and Delayed Gratification

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

This two-page article on why people struggle to save for the future includes eight questions that can be used to determine student understanding.

Time Preference—Why It Is Hard to Save

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

In this lesson, students investigate the decision to save as a choice between spending now or spending later and how people’s natural preference to enjoy goods and services now affects this decision.

3 Psychological Tricks to Help You Save Money

TED

Share this video with students to explore ways people can trick themselves into saving more money more often.

Topic 2

Setting Savings Goals

Your students will consider their family's savings goals and their own savings goals. They will explore ways to express their goals clearly and technology to help them reach their savings goals.

Self-paced Module

Setting Savings Goals

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

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Supplemental Resource Links

Setting a SMART Savings Goal

Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Apply the elements of a SMART goal to the topic of savings with this student worksheet.

My New Money Goal

Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB)

With this four-page interactive worksheet, students can document a savings goal and take steps to reach it.

A Simple 2-Step Plan for Saving More Money

TED

In this video, behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa explains the rationale for her two savings recommendations: having just one savings goal at a time and making savings automatic.

Save Money for My Goals

FDIC's How Money Smart Are You?

Encourage students to fill in this interactive worksheet with potential savings goals, the amount of money they will need, and how long they have until the money will be needed.

Why You NEED an Emergency Fund!

PBS Two Cents

Why do you need an emergency fund and what happens if you don’t have one? This video shares examples of reasons people should make having an emergency fund one of their savings goals and strategies students can take to start one.

My Emergency Savings Fund Plan

FDIC's How Money Smart Are You?

Invite students to use the interactive or PDF version of this activity to create a personal plan for establishing an emergency savings fund.

Topic 3

Finding Money to Save

Your students will explore specific strategies to save money and work in groups to research technology services that claim to help people save money more easily.

Self-paced Module

Find Money to Save

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

This module will introduce your students to the principles and purpose of saving money and provide them strategies for saving money.

Launch Module

Classroom Activity

Saving Made Easy

After sharing how likely they would be to save money they receive, students work in groups to research technology services, including apps, that claim to help people save money more easily. Groups present their findings to the class and make comparisons between the services described.

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Supplemental Resource Links

54 Ways to Save Money

America Saves

Your students can view this list of 54 ways to reduce costs and find money to save, organized by categories such as food, entertainment, and transportation.

How to Save Money

NerdWallet

This guide helps students learn how to save money on daily, monthly, and yearly expenses.

Find Money to Save

FDIC's How Money Smart Are You

Check out this list of twenty strategies for saving money and see which ones resonate with students.

Unique Money Traditions from Around the World

PBS Two Cents

Money habits, values, and experiences can be influenced by culture and tradition. This video explores money customs from across the globe, including ways people save, lend, and share money.

Topic 4

Growing Savings Through Interest

Examine the power of compound interest including comparisons of savers that start early with small contributions and later with larger ones.

Self-paced Module

Growing Savings Through Compound Interest

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

This module will help your students answer why it is important to save money early. Students will explore the power of compound interest by seeing how people who save small amounts early on increase their money.

Launch Module

Supplemental Resource Links

Compound Interest

Council for Economic Education

This four-minute video provides an overview of what compound interest is and how it works. Graphs show the difference between simple and compound interest and the impact of starting to save early.

Boost Your Savings: The Importance of Saving

FDIC's Money Smart for Young People

Students learn how compound interest works and how interest is calculated on savings.

Rule of 72

Investopedia

Show your students this quick formula to calculate how long it will take to double their money. This video explains the rule of 72 including the impact inflation has on savings.

Compound Interest Calculator

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Your students can determine how much their money can grow using the power of compound interest. They can also calculate how much money they will need to save each month in order to reach their goal.

Saving

Next Gen Personal Finance

This unit includes multiple lessons, activities, and projects focused on saving and compound interest. (To access these resources, you will need to register for a free account and verify that you are an educator.)

Topic 5

Choosing a Savings Method

Compare common savings methods including savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts and the benefits and tradeoffs of each.

Self-paced Module

Choosing a Savings Method

10 to 15 minutes (plus optional discussion)

During this module, your students will compare various savings methods, including certificates of deposit, savings accounts, and money market accounts, and consider the benefits and tradeoffs of each.

Launch Module

Previous:Unit 4: Getting Paid

Unit 5

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