MoneySmart Rookie
Community educator guide
Topic 6: First job

Financial literacy for young people

Copyright

Copyright information

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ISBN: 978 0 9805533 9 0.

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This Community educator guide is available under the Creative Commons license (BY - NC - SA). Under this license, the material is available for free use and adaption so that educators can use, adapt and re-publish material from the resource without seeking the permission of ASIC.

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The material in this Community educator guide is made available for the purpose of providing access to general information about consumer and financial literacy education and is not professional advice. If you intend to rely on the material, you should obtain advice relevant to your particular circumstances to evaluate its accuracy, currency and completeness.

Some material may include or summarise views, standards or recommendations of third parties. ASIC does not endorse such material and its inclusion does not indicate that ASIC recommends any course of action.

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Introduction

Introduction

ASIC’s role in financial literacy

Financial literacy is about understanding money and finances and being able to apply that knowledge to make effective decisions.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is the Australian Government agency responsible for financial literacy. One of ASIC’s key aims is to have confident and informed consumers and investors.

ASIC’s MoneySmart Rookie education initiative

ASIC’s MoneySmart Rookie education initiative helps 16 to 25 year olds avoid expensive mistakes or “rookie errors” when they make their first financial decisions. We want young people transitioning into adulthood to have the motivation and tools to manage their money with confidence.

This education initiative was developed through extensive research and consultation with youth organisations and young people themselves.

Topics

The MoneySmart Rookie education initiative covers six topics:

Car ownership

Credit and debt

Mobile phone ownership

Moving out of home

Online financial transactions

First job

Who is the Community educator guide for?

This Community educator guide is designed for use by youth and community workers, student advisers, mentors and others who assist young people to become aware of their financial decisions and the impact these decisions may have on their lives.

The target audience for activities in this guide is people aged 16 to 25 years of age. Different activities are designed to suit the various levels of knowledge and understanding of participants.

The guide is a flexible learning tool so you can use the parts that are relevant to your participants. There is a logical flow of activities through a topic, but you can use them in any order.

Timing might be affected by:

the needs of the learners

the setting and context for learning

the time available

The activities and discussions offer young people the opportunity to learn consumer and financial literacy skills using ‘real life’ situations, such as buying a mobile phone, getting a first car and moving out of home.

How to access the MoneySmart Rookie resources

The content is structured to suit both young people and educators:

Young people can go directly to the Under 25s section of to see engaging articles, case studies and videos.

For community educators and teachers who are working with young people, additional material is on ASIC’s MoneySmart Teaching website (

Teacher lesson plans – assist Year 9 and 10 secondary school teachers to utilise the resources in classroom teaching, and deliver the Australian Curriculum.

Convos – are self-paced online learning activities allowing young people to practice tricky conversations.

Community educator guide [this guide] – has been created to help youth and community workers, student advisers, mentors and others who assist young people to become aware of their financial decisions.

Facilitation options

The activities have been designed so that they can be used formally or informally in the following ways:

One-on-one

Participants in pairs

Small groups

Large groups

The facilitator can adapt activities and discussions to suit their learners and context.

Some general suggestions are provided in the table below:

Participants / Activity options
One-on-one / Photocopy activity worksheets, individual reflection and discussion with facilitator, sharing individual experiences, insights and challenges with facilitator. If reading skills are required, either the participant or facilitator could read text aloud or review quietly if preferred.
Pairs / ‘Buddy’ activity work with photocopied activity worksheets, individual reflection and sharing with each other, sharing individual experiences, insights and challenges with facilitator. If reading skills are required, either the participants or facilitator could read text aloud or review quietly if preferred.
Groups / Photocopy activity worksheets, facilitator/participants use whiteboard/butcher’s paper to record activity questions and responses, individual reflection and discussion within small and large groups, sharing individual experiences, insights and challenges with small and large groups. If reading skills are required, one participant per group or the facilitator could read text aloud and individuals could raise hands or point to indicate choices/responses. If writing skills are required, one participant in a group could write down everybody’s ideas.

Complementary resources

The activities may be undertaken using this guide and video/s where relevant.

References for further or related MoneySmart Rookie information are included in this guide.

If young people want to explore any of the topics on their own, they can go to the MoneySmart website ( and search for Under 25s.

Knowledge levels

What content will suit your participants? The level of information you use will depend on how much understanding your participants have of a topic. The following describes the content that best suits different levels of understanding (1, 2, and 3):

Your audience has this level of knowledge / Description
Level 1: No or a limited understanding / If your participants cannot answer any of your questions or can only answer them a bit, they have no or a limited understanding.
You can help them to understand more by showing the MoneySmart Rookie video for the topic. You can also go through the Level 1 activities in the guide.
After watching the video, see if your participants have developed some understanding of the topic by asking them to answer the questions again.
Level 2: Some level of understanding / If your participants answer one or more of your questions, they have some level of understanding.
You can show them the MoneySmart Rookie video to review the topic.
You may wish to pause the video in sections and discuss key issues shown.
You can also go through the Level 2 activities and stories in the guide, as these are for participants with some level of understanding.
Level 3: Good level of understanding / If your participants are able to answer all of your questions, they have a good level of understanding.
You can show them the MoneySmart Rookie video to review the topic.
You can also go through the Level 2 and 3 activities in the guide, as these are for participants with a good level of understanding.

TOPIC 6: First job

TOPIC 6:First job

Activities are arranged so there is a logical flow through the topic, but you can use them in any order you wish.

Activities and resources / Level / Key messages / Pg
A:Managing my money / 4
6.1:Nick has problems with managing his money / Level 1 / There are a number of expenses involved with having a job.
A budget helps you manage your money.
Saving money helps you pay for the things you want.
B:Employer obligations and my responsibilities / 8
6.2:Your rights and responsibilities at work – talk to your boss / Level 1 / Understand your workplace rights and conditions.
Know your responsibilities and appropriate workplace behaviour.
Your employer must provide a safe workplace.
Seek assistance if you are having problems at work.
6.3:Knowing your job rights and responsibilities / Level 2
6.4:Nick checks up on his workplace rights / Level 2
C:Understanding payslips / 14
6.5:What’s on Nick’s payslip / Level 2 / Your payslip shows you how much you get paid, how much tax you pay and how much superannuation is paid into your fund.
If you do not understand the information on your payslip, ask your employer.
D:Understanding tax / 18
6.6:Gloria tells her friend about tax / Level 3 / When you work in Australia, you pay tax to the Australian Government.
Your tax file number should be kept in a safe place.
You need to lodge your tax return every year.
6.7:Matching tax words and their meanings / Level 3
E:Understanding superannuation / 23
6.8:Learning facts about superannuation / Level 3 / Superannuation is money being saved for when you are old and do not work anymore.
Your employer usually has to pay a minimum amount of money into a superannuation fund for you. This is in addition to your pay.

Overview

The topic is about understanding the financial responsibilities of having a job, such as:

Managing money

Employer obligations and employee responsibilities

Understanding payslips

Understanding tax

Understanding superannuation

Reflection questions

At the end of each session, educators can use the following questions to reflect on the effectiveness of the session:

What worked well?

What did not work well?

Did the participants understand the key messages?

Did the activity engage the participants?

How could the activity have been more effective?

What questions unexpectedly emerged and how did you handle them?

What might you do differently next time?

More information for your participants

For more information or to search for words you don’t understand, go to the MoneySmart website ( and search for Under 25s.

Knowledge levels

Ask these types of questions to check the participants’ existing level of knowledge about the financial side of work and life when they have a job. Ask the participants to explain the following:

Budgeting

Employer obligations and their own responsibilities

The information in payslips

Tax

Superannuation

Decide what information they need based on their level of knowledge. Use the table below to help you.

Your audience has this level of knowledge / Description and suitable activities
Level 1
No or a limited understanding / If your participants cannot answer any of your questions or can only answer them a bit, they have no or a limited understanding.
You can help them to understand more by showing the MoneySmart Rookie: Show me the money video. You can also go through the Level 1 activities in the guide.
After watching the video, see if your participants have developed some understanding of the topic by asking them to answer the questions again.
Level 2
Some level of understanding / If your participants answer one or more of your questions, they have some level of understanding.
You can show them the MoneySmart Rookie: Show me the money video to review the topic.
You may wish to pause the video in sections and discuss key issues shown.
You can also go through the Level 2 activities and stories in the guide, as these are for participants with some level of understanding.
Level 3
Good level of understanding / If your participants are able to answer all of your questions, they have a good level of understanding.
You can show them the MoneySmart Rookie: Show me the money video to review the topic.
You can also go through the Level 2 and 3 activities in the guide, as these are for participants with a good level of understanding.

A: Managing my money

Key messages:

There are a number of expenses involved with having a job

A budget helps you manage your money

Saving money helps you pay for the things you want

Content for the educator

When a young person gets a job, they often get a sense of financial freedom – a feeling that they have lots of money to spend. However, this is actually the time when careful planning can put them in good stead to work towards their short and long term financial goals.

There are a number of expenses included in having a job such as transport to get to work, petrol for the car, lunches, uniforms and other items.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to remind them of the benefits of budgeting as this will help them to manage their money. By adding up all their financial commitments and comparing that with their income, they can work out how much they have left over to spend on entertainment and purchases.

It’s also a good idea for young people to think about saving some of their money as this will help them pay for the things they want, in the long term.

ASIC has some tools that can help them:

Savings Goal Calculator

Budget Planner

These tools can be found on the ‘Calculators and tools’ page of ASIC’s MoneySmart website. See

Activities and stories

6.1 Level 1:Nick has problems with managing his money

Activity 6.1Nick has problems with managing his money (Level 1)

This activity is based on the video MoneySmart Rookie: Show me the money. It will help the participants consider ways they can manage their finances when they have a job.

Pre-task preparation

Photocopy the first story of ‘Nick has problems managing his money’ from page 29.

If you have access to the Internet, go to and search for budget planner. It’s pretty straightforward, but worthwhile looking at beforehand.

Step one

Cue the MoneySmart Rookie: Show me the money video for the participants to watch.

Ask the participants to watch the video from the start to see what Nick experienced in his job.

Step two

Read out the first story of ‘What happened to Nick next’
(or give the participants a copy to read).

What happened to Nick next:

Nick ended up quitting his pizza job and now he has a job working in retail in the middle of town. He buys his lunch from the café next door every day and he drives his car to work–so paying for petrol and parking is getting to be expensive. He also loves going out with his workmates after work for dinner or drinks.
Nick gets discounts on buying things from the shop he works in, so he’s been buying lots of stuff that he doesn’t really need. He thinks he should get the stuff while his job lasts because he’s saving money, right?
Nick wants to save up for a car. Even though the pay is better in his new job, he’s finding he has no money left by the end of each pay period.

Ask the participants the following questions:

1Why is Nick not saving any money when his earnings have increased?

2What other expenses could be involved in having a job?

Suggested answers

1Nick spends money on buying his lunches, driving to work (petrol and parking), going out with workmates for dinner and drinks and buying things he doesn’t really need (even though they’re discounted).

2Uniform, laundry costs, materials, any other suggestions made by the participants.

Step three

Ask the participants the following question:

1Do you have any suggestions for Nick on how he can start saving money to buy a car?

Suggested answer

1Nick could try to do some or all of the following:

Take his own lunch to work

Take public transport to work, or ride or walk if it’s close enough

Cut back on going out with his workmates (or do things with them that don’t cost much money)

Stop buying things he doesn’t need (even though they’re discounted)

Step four

Ask the participants the following questions:

1Does anyone here do a budget? What is a budget?

2Where can you get advice on how to do a budget?

3Has anyone heard of the Budget Planner on the MoneySmart website?

Suggested answers

1A budget helps you manage your money.

2There are websites that give advice (e.g. MoneySmart). A free financial counsellor can also help.

3The Budget Planner on the MoneySmart website is simple to use and really helps you to do a useful budget. There’s also a Savings Goal Calculator to help you save and reach your financial goals.

Educator note: If you have Internet access, show the participants the Budget Planner and explain the basics of how to use it. You could also do this for the Savings Goal Calculator.

Check for understanding

After completing the activity, you can check the participants’ level of understanding and knowledge by asking questions such as:

How can using a budget help?
A:You know what money you’ll have left over each pay period after you’ve paid all of the essential expenses.