Welcome to Next Gen Personal Finance's October 2015 Newsletter
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the NGPF Newsletter (#11 for those of you keeping score at home). Check out the new format for our newsletter which will focus on one topic each month and showcase the varied NGPF content that provides engaging options for you to use in your classroom.
Our focus this month: checking account fees. For many students, their first financial product is or will be a checking account. These accounts are fraught with features that can trip students up, especially fees that can very quickly drain a low-balance checking account (a $10 maintenance fee really hurts when your average balance is $200). We want students to get off to a good start with their financial lives and have curated and created lots of great content to teach students how to avoid these fees.
Video Resource: Bank Fees Mean Big Bucks For Financial Institutions
This video from a CBS News broadcast (2:44 in duration) has shock value, in alerting students to the billions of dollars of fees that financial institutions garner each year based on costly mistakes that consumers make with their checking accounts. Students familiarize themselves with the largest fee source (overdrafts) and strategize on how ways they can minimize them.
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Looking for a video to engage your students? Check out the NGPF Searchable Video Library with almost 250 short videos to choose from.
Questions of the Day: Checking Accounts
Questions of the Day from the NGPF Blog can be great class openers by asking your students to make educated guesses on pertinent questions. Here are a few:
Ultimately, financial capability involves developing decision-making skills when selecting financial products. Today, students spend an inordinate amount of time online, so it only makes sense to teach them how to research and evaluate financial products online.
This WebQuest activity requires students to conduct online research and to select a checking account option that works for them.
Simulation: Manage An Online Bank Account
Teachers often tell us that while the concepts behind balancing a checking account are still useful, students need practice managing online accounts too.
Creating Savvy Consumers: Picking Apart the Marketing Messages
In order for students to be savvy consumers, they must understand how financial service companies use marketing to build their brands and persuade consumers to use their products.
Sign Up for Our Free Webinar To Be Held On October 27th:
What's Trending in Personal Finance Now?
Keeping up with the ever changing personalfinance landscape can sometimes feel like drinking from a fire hose...but it doesn't have to be!Register for this FREE NGPF webinar to get insights on what's changing and how you can incorporate these new trends in the classroom. Space is limited so be sure to sign-up today.
Community Activity
Next Gen Personal Finance actively supports the financial literacy community through workshops, sponsorships of conferences and teacher professional development workshops and we volunteer in classrooms. We are based in the San Francisco Bay Area but travel constantly so e-mail me at tim@nextgenpersonalfinance.org, if you are interested in discussing a speaking or sponsorship opportunity.
