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Standards

Jump$tart developed this set of educator standards that received input from a panel of elementary and secondary school teachers, as well as numerous other educators throughout the country. The standards cover four key areas: income; money management; saving and investment; and spending. Within each area are specified skills and concepts that the coalition believes students should be taught before their graduation from high school.

Also, there is a completed set of Benchmarks that correlate with the standards to indicate the knowledge and skills that students should possess at different grade levels. These Benchmarks can be used for structuring personal finance curricula.

Click here to download a copy of the Benchmarks.


Income
Students will be able to:

  • Identify sources of income.
  • Analyze how career choice, education, and job skills affect income.
  • Explain how taxes, transfer payments, and employee benefits relate to disposable income.

Money Management
Students will be able to:

  • Explain how limited personal financial resources affect the choices people make.
  • Identify the opportunity cost of financial decisions.
  • Discuss the importance of taking responsibility for personal financial decisions
  • Apply a decision-making process to personal financial choices.
  • Explain how inflation affects spending and investing decisions.
  • Describe how insurance and other risk-management strategies protect against financial loss.
  • Design a plan for earning, spending, saving, and investing personal financial resources.
  • Explain how to use money-management tools available from financial institutions.

Spending and Credit
Students will be able to:

  • Compare the benefits and costs of spending alternatives.
  • Evaluate the quality of consumer information from different sources.
  • Compare the advantages and disadvantages of different payment methods.
  • Analyze the benefits, costs, and sources of consumer credit.
  • Compare sources of consumer credit.
  • Explain factors that affect creditworthiness and ways to avoid credit problems.
  • Identify ways to avoid or correct credit problems.
  • Describe rights and responsibilities of buyers and sellers under consumer protection laws.

Saving and Investing
Students will be able to:

  • Explain the relationship between saving and investing.
  • Describe reasons for saving and reasons for investing.
  • Compare the risk, return, and liquidity of investment alternatives.
  • Describe how to buy and sell investments.
  • Explain factors that affect the rate of return on investments.
  • Evaluate sources of investment information.
  • Explain how agencies that regulate financial markets protect investors.



Michigan Jump$tart
P.O. Box 8054
Plymouth, Michigan 48170
800.262.6285
FAX: 734.420.1540
laz@mcul.org