Coalition for Financial Literacy

Fun Fact: The Michigan Revised School Code Senate Bill 834, signed into law on December 28, 2008, allows a course in financial literacy to count as 1 of the 4 required math credits for high school graduation.

free ideas…    free stuff…     &    pay for services…   pay for stuff
By continuing its ongoing work with local educators, parents, business leaders and others, Michigan Jump$tart seeks to increase state awareness that personal finance, like reading or math, is a fundamental life skill needed by young people to support themselves.

  • The Actuarial Foundation [free & pay] The Actuarial Foundation has released to U.S. high school and community/junior college teachers Building Your Future, an engaging and relevant financial literacy curriculum, to help teens master the foundational elements of personal finance and to prepare for life on their own. The curriculum is contained in a 4 book set (Banking, Financing, Investing ,Saving).
  • Annuityfyi.com  [free] This is your resource for learning about, comparing, and selecting the most competitive annuities.
  • Consumer.gov  [free] This site offers a plain and simple approach to: Managing Your Money;  Credit, Loans and Debt, Scams and Identity Theft. Consumer.gov has videos and audio read-alongs to support different learning styles.
  • Consumer Action  [free] Through multilingual financial education materials, community outreach, and grassroots “make your voice heard” advocacy, Consumer Action empowers  underrepresented consumers nationwide to assert their rights in the marketplace and financially prosper. Along with a consumer action help desk, the site includes news headlines, alerts, newsletters, special reports, and recent publications.
  • Consumer Jungle  [free] This youth-oriented website was designed to provide young adults with financial resources and ways to share stories and interact with their peers.
  • Council for Economic Education   [free & pay] CEE delivers economic education and financial literacy to k-12 students by educating the educators.  Also, it provides classroom resources from fee based (Advanced Placement Economics) to partially free (GEN I Revolution) to totally free (EconEdLink:  It has over 700 lessons and 100 interactive tools).
  • Debt.org  [free & pay] Debt.org strives to help people in all stages of life, from college, through buying or selling a home, and into retirement. The site provides content on a range of financial topics, such as reducing debt, finding student loans, maneuvering through real estate transactions, and planning for retirement. In addition to the free site material debt.org offers programs for debt reduction, debt management , and loan consolidation.
  • Family Economics & Financial Education (FEFE)  [free & pay] They provide educators with free lesson plans.  The curriculum materials are designed in a ready-to-teach, modular format. Each lesson includes hands-on learning activities, note-taking guides, worksheets, student reading, PowerPoint presentations and conclusions to reinforce key concepts, along with assessments to test knowledge retention.  FEFE also offers ongoing professional development opportunities to help educators develop the skills and confidence to teach financial education.
  • Federal Student Aid  [free] This site discusses the types of federal student aid, eligibility requirements, and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA]. Also, it includes checklists for college preparation and a career search tool.
  • Finance in the Classroom  [free] The Finance in the Classroom (FITC) program brings parents, teachers and the community together to provide a strong financial education program for students.  FITC encourages skilled teaching in the classroom supported by additional activities at home and in the community.  Student learning is promoted through fun, yet sound lessons ranging from K-12.
  • Financial Literacy & Education Commission  [free] This free site organizes financial education help from over 20 different Federal web sites in one place. Content is organized by where you are in life (“Life Events”), who you are (“My Resources”), and by specific hands-on tools (“Tools”). Popular Topics are also highlighted. This site provides summaries of resources available at other official government sites and allows you to open those pages in a new window.
  • Harmony Financial Network  [pay] HFN, a leader in personal finance education in Michigan, provides MCEE sponsored workshops on topics such as: (1) Credit: Tool or Trap, (2) ID Theft: Fraud Prevention, (3) Personal Finance Using Technology, and (4) What Teens Need to Know.
  • InVEST supports insurance education and provide scholarships to students pursuing insurance related careers.   [free]
  • Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy Clearinghouse  [free] The Jump$tart Clearinghouse is a free, virtual marketplace where teachers, students, parents and caregivers can search for personal finance education resources for pre-kindergarten through college-age grade levels. Many of the materials are also suitable for adults. Established in the 1990s, the Clearinghouse continues to grow and evolve as more people turn to the Internet for up-to-date financial information and teaching tools.
  • Kids Money Store  [pay] The Kids’ Money Store® features hundreds of kids’ money books, audio books, videos, banks, games and other learning activities, in association with Amazon.
  • Michigan Attorney General  [free] The AG’s website has an extensive collection of articles, brochures, etc. that address consumer protection.
  • Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM)  [free & pay] MCTM is the professional organization for Michigan mathematics educators at any grade level, pre-K through college. As an advocate for excellence in mathematics education for all children, its membership also includes interested community members, pre-service mathematics teachers, and retired educators.  Resources include the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with PTA parent packets and examples via the Illustrated Math Project as well as Rich Math Tools such as the MARS project or ATLAS.
  • The Michigan Revised School Code  [free] Senate Bill 834, signed into law on December 28, 2008, allows a course in financial literacy, as described in section 1165, to count as 1 of the 4 required math credits for high school graduation.
  • Michigan Virtual School  [pay] The Michigan Virtual School is an online resource that enables Michigan high schools and middle schools to provide courses (all taught by certified teachers) and other learning tools that students wouldn’t otherwise have access to. It was funded by the Michigan Legislature in July 2000 to be operated by the Michigan Virtual University, a private, not-for-profit Michigan corporation. MVS works in cooperation with individual school districts to grant course credit and diplomas.
  • Money Math; Lessons for Life  [free] Money Math: Lessons for Life is a four-lesson curriculum supplement for middle school math classes, teaching grade 7-9 math concepts using real-life examples from personal finance. The 86-page book is a teacher’s guide with lesson plans, reproducible activity pages, and teaching tips.
  • Money Smart Week  [free] Money Smart Week® is a public awareness campaign designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances. This is achieved through the collaboration and coordinated effort of hundreds of organizations across the country including businesses, financial institutions, schools, libraries, not-for-profits, government agencies and the media. These groups come together once a year to stress the importance of financial literacy, inform consumers about where they can get help and provide free educational seminars and activities throughout the week. Programming is offered to all demographics and income levels and covers all facets of personal finance from establishing a budget to first time home buying to estate planning. The effort was created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2002. Money Smart Week partners will be hosting their events April 21 – 28, 2018.To learn more or to become involved, visit the campaign website at www.moneysmartweek.org. To find Michigan activities, click here.
  • National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE)  [free] NEFE’s High School Financial Planning Program® (HSFPP) is a turnkey financial literacy program specifically focused on basic personal finance skills that are relevant to the lives of pre-teens, teens, and young adults.
  • National Jump$tart Coalition  [free] Jump$tart is a national coalition of organizations dedicated to improving the financial literacy of pre-kindergarten through college-age youth by providing advocacy, research, standards and educational resources.  Valuable resources include the Jump$tart Clearinghouse (see entry above), National Financial Educational Standards, Best Practices, and State Financial Educational Requirements.
  • Practical Money Skills for Life  [free] Go to this site, owned by VISA, to find information on personal finance topics…credit and debt, saving and spending, life events…, lesson plans for educators for pre-K through 12 grade, and various finance based games such as Money Metropolis and Financial Football.
  • Smart About Money  [free] Smart About Money, or SAM, is a program of the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), a nonprofit national corporation dedicated to inspiring empowered financial decision making for individuals and families through every stage of life. SAM is a free, unbiased resource where you can find articles, resources, calculators, and tips to help you manage your money through life’s ups and downs.
  • TeachBanzai.com  [free] Banzai is a free, online financial literacy program designed to help young people become wise stewards of their money, instilling discipline through simulations and hands-on experience. Banzai is used in over 6,000 classrooms in all fifty states, and received the Curriculum of the Year award from the Institute For Financial Literacy. It is supported by local, partnering banks and credit unions.
  • U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission  [free] Brought to you by The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Investor.gov is your online resource to help you invest wisely and avoid fraud. While they cannot tell you what investments to make, they can provide unbiased information on investment choices and on protecting yourself from securities fraud or abuse.