High School Financial Literacy Resources

  • Take Charge Today -

Updated 8/22/14

  • In this free curriculum, “Advanced Level,” which is designed for students in grades 10-12,any teacher will be fully equipped to meet 21st century financial literacy standards. A highly flexible curriculum including 70+ lessons 145-225 minutes each, packed full of activity ideas and student worksheets, this curriculum is the real deal. This curriculum could be taught in 2, 9 (quarter), 12 (trimester), 18 (semester), or 36 (yearlong) weeks. This curriculum covers:

Updated 8/22/14

  • Values Auction
  • Needs vs. Wants
  • Setting Financial Goals
  • A College About Me
  • Life Cycle of Financial Planning
  • Interest Inventory
  • Career Research
  • Investment in Yourself
  • Comparing Job Offers
  • Understanding Your Paycheck
  • Spending Plans
  • Depository Institutions
  • Electronic Banking
  • Online Banking
  • Choosing to Save
  • Savings Tools
  • Introduction to Investing
  • Language of the Stock Market
  • Identity Theft
  • Understanding Credit Reports
  • Understanding a Credit Card
  • Types of Insurance
  • Renting vs. Owning a Home
  • Securing a Living Space
  • Researching an Automobile
  • Shopping for an Automobile Loan
  • Automobile Insurance
  • An Evaluation of Convenience
  • Life in… (story form financial planner simulation)
  • Test Banks and Questions for all Units

Updated 8/22/14

  • NEFE’s (National Endowment for Financial Education) HSFPP –
  • NEFE’s High School Financial Planning Program (HSFPP) is a free turnkey financial literacy program focused on personal finance. HSFPP is organized into 6 modules and each student receives a booklet for each module. All of the HSFPP is free and can be shipped directly to your school. The HSFPP curriculum includes a teacher’s guide, Power Points, and easy to use activities. HSFPP also has many great stats and research backing its teacher and student content. This program includes:

Updated 8/22/14

  • Module 1 – Money Management
  • Module 2 – Borrowing
  • Module 3 – Earning Power
  • Module 4 – Investing
  • Module 5 – Financial Services
  • Module 6 – Insurance

Updated 8/22/14

  • EverFi –
  • This is a free online simulator geared for 9th-12th grade students. EverFi is brought to you free by Iowa Student Aid Commission and is supported by the Iowa Department of Education via I Have a Plan Iowa! In this simulator students will move through 10 learning modules and cover 600 core financial literacy concepts. Students enter an online environment and at the same time they will be meeting 21st century financial literacy skills. This online simulator takes about 45 minutes to complete each module totaling approx. 8 hours to complete the program. This program includes:

Updated 8/22/14

  • Overview
  • Savings
  • Banking
  • Credit Scores
  • Payment Types, Interest Rates, and Credit Cards
  • Financing Higher Education
  • Renting vs. Owning
  • Insurance & Taxes
  • Consumer Fraud
  • Investing

Updated 8/22/14

  • Stock Market Game -
  • Created by the SIFMA Foundation and offered free of charge for Iowa schools by Dordt College’s Center for Economic Education this online stock market simulator is fun and educational. Open to students 3rd-12th grades, students compete to see who can be the most profitable investor. With the online simulator complemented nicely with free online curriculum for teachers this will for sure be a great addition to your classroom.
  • Credit: Personal Finance Basics from ABA
  • 1 Lesson on credit with 3 handouts & answer keys, also includes PPT
  • Budget Challenge -
  • Budget Challenge is a low cost online simulator that teaches students about income, bills, retirement and the sometimes tough lesson about cash flow. Will students have what it takes to pay bills in time and have money at the end of the month? In this simulator students will learn this skill.
  • PBS movie - “Your Life, Your Money” -
  • In this hour long video students are exposed to real people trying to pay off debt, start a business, graduate college, and follow their career dreams. This is a great tool to start a discussion on money management.
  • Adam Carroll’s book, “Winning the Money Game.” A great resource in teaching students about debt and how to build wealth.
  • Virtual Business - Personal Finance -
  • This online simulation is a total solution for your need to teach financial literacy. Your students will learn key personal financial skills and demonstrate competence in an online simulated world. All course work is assessed, tracked, and easily monitored online. The simulation and content are always current and up to date, including tax rates, laws, and regulations. This simulation includes:

Updated 8/22/14

  • Budgeting & Saving
  • Choosing & Balancing a Checking Account
  • Getting a Credit Card
  • Fixing Your Credit
  • Education & Advancement
  • Using Online Banking
  • Paying Your Taxes
  • Intro to Investing
  • Time Management & Health
  • Finding a Job
  • Finding an Apartment
  • Buying a Car
  • Shopping
  • Risk vs. Return
  • Diversification
  • Investing for Retirement
  • Buying a Home
  • Insurance

Updated 8/22/14

  • Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance -
  • Foundations is a turnkey curriculum packed with teacher’s content, student content, videos, and very practical real world personal finance help. Foundations includes a semesters worth of content and for most who go through it, its life changing. This curriculum includes:

Updated 8/22/14

  • Unit 1: Saving & Budgeting
  • Introduction to Personal Finance
  • Saving
  • Budgeting
  • Unit 2: Credit & Debt
  • Debt
  • Life after High School
  • Consumer Awareness
  • Unit 3: Financial
  • Planning & Insurance
  • Bargain Shopping
  • Investing & Retirement
  • Insurance
  • Unit 4: Income, Taxes, & Giving
  • Money & Relationships
  • Careers and Taxes
  • Giving

Updated 8/22/14

  • JA (Junior Achievement) -
  • The JA curriculum comes in a packet in which a volunteer from the community comes in and teachers to a class of students for 6-8 weeks. The JA program has a cost associated with it and is usually sponsored by a local business that organizes and helps to integrate the curriculum into the classroom.

Updated 8/22/14

  • Banks in Action (8 sessions)
  • Be Entrepreneurial (7 sessions)
  • Business Ethics (7 lessons with 5

supplemental sessions)

  • Careers with a Purpose (7 sessions)
  • Company Program (12 sessions)
  • Economics (16 sessions)
  • Hands on Banking (created by Wells Fargo for Kids, Teens, Young Adults, Adults). In this online simulator students of all ages learn from the basics of money management to wealth building. These are fun online interactive lessons helping students of all ages learn while having fun.

Updated 8/22/14

  • Teens (7 Topics)
  • Introduction
  • Your & Your Money (8 lessons)
  • Budgeting (8 lessons)
  • Savings & Checking Guides (16 lessons)
  • Credit and You (7 lessons)
  • Smart Investing (7 lessons)
  • Assessment
  • Young Adults (6 Topics)
  • Getting Started

(8 lessons)

  1. Earning Money

(5 lessons)

  1. Spending Smart (6 lessons)
  2. Save, Invest, & Build Wealth (6 lessons)
  3. All About Credit (8 lessons)
  4. School & Money (6 lessons)

Updated 8/22/14

  • Virtual Economics (provided by Council for Economics Education)

Updated 8/22/14

  • Primary focus is economics & financial literacy
  • Grades 6-8 = 301 lessons (119 online)
  • Grades 9-12 = 748 lessons (216 online)

Updated 8/22/14