The 2020 National Personal Finance Challenge, the first online installment of the competition, began on May 1. Winning student teams from state-level competitions participated in an online multiple-choice round to determine which would advance to the case study rounds and vie for the championship. The twelve qualifying teams were:
Adrian Wilcox High School, California Brockton High School, Massachusetts Mount St. Joseph High School, Maryland East Greenwich High School, Rhode Island Hamilton Southeastern High School, Indiana Hunter College High School, New York Methacton High School, Pennsylvania Palm Harbor University High School, Florida Provine High School, Mississippi Saint Thomas Academy, Minnesota Texas Academy of Math & Science, Texas Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, Illinois
On May 4, CEE held the case study rounds of the 2020 National Personal Finance Challenge. Student teams had two hours to put together a financial plan for a fictional family portfolio. Each of the twelve participating teams gave amazing presentations, and judges determined three winners:
First place/National Champions: Adrian C. Wilcox High School, Clifornia Second place: Hamilton Southeastern High School, Indiana Third place: Saint Thomas Academy, Minnesota
Thanks to everyone who participated – students, coaches, judges, volunteers, and especially to our signature sponsor Voya and event partner Nebraska Council on Economic Education!
The Council for Economic Education’s (CEE’s) #ThisTeacherRocks campaign, celebrating K-12 teachers for their tireless efforts to serve their students, has been covered in an article and video by CBS New York. The report features K-12 students and parents that have participated in the campaign as well as CEE President and CEO Nan J. Morrison.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Teacher Appreciation Week runs from May 4-8 and parents around the tri-state are learning just how amazing their kids’ teachers are. Because students won’t be in school with their teachers because of the coronavirus, they are posting videos, messages and pictures on social media to tell their teachers how much they mean to them, especially during these trying times.
Anyone with a K-12 educator in their life can participate in #ThisTeacherRocks for a chance to win them a $100 gift card. Tell us why a teacher rocks on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram, tag @CouncilEconEd and use the hashtag #ThisTeacherRocks. Find more details, plus a write-in option, here.
The RI Econ Challenge is available online from April 6 – May 6, 2020. Teachers from any subject area can set up the RI Econ Challenge for their students with just 3 easy steps:
3. Teachers email access codes to their students with instructions for a parent or guardian to supervise.
Once they receive their access codes, students can individually take the 35-minute exam in their homes online under the supervision of a parent/guardian any time during the period April 6 – May 6.
Teachers will be notified of their students’ results soon after May 6.
The top 3 teams in each division will receive statewide recognition at a date later this year.
We greatly appreciate the sponsorship of CFA Society Providence, which has allowed us to bring the RI Econ Challenge to hundreds of RI middle and high school students free of charge for many years.
The RI Finance Challenge is available online from April 6-23, 2020. Teachers can set up the Personal Finance Challenge for their students with just 3 easy steps:
3. Teachers email access codes to their students with instructions for a parent or guardian to supervise.
Once they receive their access codes, students can individually take the 35-minute exam in their homes online under the supervision of a parent/guardian any time during the period April 6 – April 23, 2020.
Teachers will be notified of their students’ results soon after April 23.
The top 3 teams in each division will receive statewide recognition at a date later this year.
The 1st place RI High School Personal Finance Challenge team will advance to the online National Semi-Finals. See details here https://www.councilforeconed.org/npfc-2/
We greatly appreciate the sponsorship of Fidelity Investments, which has allowed us to bring the RI Finance Challenge to hundreds of RI middle and high school students free of charge for six years.
As the head of an organization that teaches about personal finance, I thought I would take this opportunity to share some thoughts about managing your personal finances at this time. Big thanks to Herb – my dad – who taught me a lot about managing my finances and had good advice for many.
1. Rethink your budget. Especially important if your income may diminish for a while. And, depending on your work circumstances, you may have a bit of time. To consider:
a. Most of us still need to pay the basics – rent, food, various loans – but many of the nicer to-haves are not available right now (going out, going on vacation). Will savings from these activities cover your needs? Do they present an opportunity to save?
b. Take the opportunity to look at your recurring monthly fees – e.g. streaming and subscription services. Do you need all of these? Can you modify them? Can you reallocate some funds to others that are more essential?
c. Think about what you are spending on: Many organizations are offering entertainment for free – Why pay for a movie when you can stream, take a yoga class, or virtually visit a museum at no charge? Many companies, especially local ones, are offering pickup service and discounts – support your community and save at the same time, always taking care regarding unnecessary discretionary spending.
2. Identify helpful State Programs/Resources: If your income is reduced by a furlough, a layoff, or reduced revenues as a small business owner, check out resources that your state might have available to help you – new services and flexibility seem to be the order of the day.
3. Have the money talk: This is an opportunity to discuss money as a family. If you were wondering about finding the right time – this is a good one.
4. Do your taxes. File them if you are in for a refund, hold if you owe and might need that cash. Note: The IRS has extended the filing deadline and federal tax payments regardless of amount until July 15, but check your state for local tax changes and dates. Filing is particularly important if you are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
5. Invest
a. The experts will tell you not to panic and sell out of fear. The market was just over 6,600 in March of 2009 at the bottom of the financial crisis. It is over 18,000 as I write after some of the worst daily drops ever.
b. If your employer is still making a match to your 401K plan, try to keep investing enough to earn the match. E.g. if you are saving 6%, and the company is matching up to 4%, try to save at least at 4%. Why – first, that money is free. In addition, dollar cost averaging is now working in your favor (you can look this up for more details, but basically, equal amounts invested over time will, on average, lower your average share purchase cost).
c. For the same reason, if you have an income and are spending less on other things, continue to invest a bit in your SEP, IRA, or 529 plans each month.
6. Look for alternative work: It might not be your dream job, but there are quite a number of local delivery jobs open right now. Help with outdoor yard and gardening chores. If you have expertise in a subject, you might be able to tutor students now taking classes at home.
7. Beware of new debt: It might be tempting to carry a balance on your credit card, borrow from your 401K or take advantage of low or no-cost financing for a while. Refer to my first point – if your budget says you cannot afford it, financing is probably going to make it more expensive. That said, for those of you fortunate enough to own a home, given low interest rates, refinancing or a home equity loan may be worth evaluating.
8. Volunteer: If you are lucky enough to have time and savings, you can help others to maintain financial stability. Deliver groceries to an at-risk person and don’t ask to be paid back; tutor for free; help prepare free meals. And the money you save by not going out or on vacation could go a long way towards meeting others’ basic human needs right now.
The Council for Economic Education (CEE) has released the 2020 Survey of the States, available for download here. The Survey is CEE’s biennial look into the state of K-12 economic and financial education in the United States; it serves as an important benchmark for our progress, revealing both how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.
This morning, CEE’s President and CEO, Nan J. Morrison, discussed the Survey, including positive national gains in personal finance and economic education, in an interview with anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
According to the Survey, twenty-one states now require high school students to take a course in personal finance, four more than reported in 2018′s report. Twenty-five states now require an economics course, an increase of three states since 2018. The report also discusses data on the positive outcomes of personal finance and economic education as well as the need to improve access to this important subject matter.
Since 2011, the Florida Council on Economic Education (FCEE) has pursued a legislative requirement for a standalone course in personal finance. Finally, in 2019, after years of negotiating and advocating, the legislature passed a requirement for that course. While the bill’s passing is a victory for Florida students, it is only a partial one—legislators require only that the course be offered, not that it be taken for graduation.
The Dorothy Hukill Financial Literacy Act provides students with the opportunity to take a full-semester course in personal finance. The course must be offered in addition to and separate from the required economics course where personal finance content was previously taught, providing students access to a more thorough personal finance class while still giving economics the full attention it deserves. The new elective is based on the Council for Economic Education’s National Standards for Financial Literacy and is offered at both the honors and regular course levels.
State Senator Travis Hutson said of the legislation, “It has been an amazing year carrying such an important piece of legislation for my dear friend Senator Hukill. I look forward to seeing more and more students avail themselves of this opportunity.”
Much work remains to be done. Unfortunately, the Florida legislature did not appropriate any funding toward the implementation and creation of the course. Additionally, the FCEE and its partners around the state plan to pursue a mandate for this important course and are working with representatives from both the public and private sectors to make this a reality. In the meantime, FCEE continues to provide assistance, training and resources to teachers around the state as they take on this exciting new course.
Carly Urban Christiana Stoddard Montana State University
With the rise of student loan debt, there is concern that student borrowers are not fully informed when making decisions about how much to borrow and from where. Can state-required financial education in high school provide the necessary tools to make a more informed decision? Yes— results show that when students receive financial education, they borrow more sensibly, shifting from high-cost to low-cost financing. Financial education graduation requirements* increase applications for aid, the likelihood of receiving a grant, and acceptance of federal loans, which are all low-interest means of borrowing. At the same time, financial education decreases the likelihood of holding credit card balances, and the education reduces higher-cost private loan amounts for borrowers. For students from lower income families, financial education reduces their need to work while enrolled, which likely increases their probability of graduation. While the graduation requirements positively affect borrowing behavior, they do not change where or whether students choose to go to school.
*A state is classified as having a graduation requirement if the state either (1) requires a standalone class, (2) requires personal finance material to be integrated into another class, or (3) requires standards in personal finance be taught within a curriculum.
THIS ARTICLE SUMMARIZES THE FINDINGS DETAILED IN THE FOLLOWING RESEARCH: Christiana Stoddard and Carly Urban. “The Effects of Financial Education Graduation Requirements on Postsecondary Financing Decisions” Forthcoming: Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking. 2019 National Endowment of Financial Education Executive Summary. “Better Borrowing: How State-Mandated Financial Education Drives College Financing Behavior,” 2018. Access here: https://www.nefe.org/_images/ research/Effects-of-K-12-Financial-EducationMandates/Better-Borrowing-Report-MSUExecutive-Summary.pdf
So does access
According to Next Gen Personal Finance, in the graduating class of 2019:
Most high schoolers had at least some access to personal finance, with almost 70% provided the option to take at least a one-semester elective
However, less than 17% of high schoolers were required to take at least one semester of personal finance
In states where there is no required one-semester personal finance course, there are large gaps between schools educating higher and lower income students:
• In schools in which at least 75% of students were eligible for free and reduced lunch (FRL)*, only 3.9% of students were required to take a one-semester personal finance course, and an additional 52.4% were provided at least an option
• In schools in which less than 25% of students were FRL eligible, students were nearly three times as likely to be required to take a one-semester personal finance course (10.5%), and an additional 61.6% were provided at least an option
*FRL is a common proxy for low income
SOURCE: “Who Has Access to Financial Education in America Today?” Next Gen Personal Finance, 2019, https://www.ngpf.org/advocacy-report/.
Recognizing that financial literacy skills are critical for success in career and life, North Carolina business leaders and policymakers recently championed a bipartisan effort to increase the emphasis on instruction in economics and personal finance for high school students. During the 2019 legislative session, North Carolina established a required, full-year course in economics and personal finance for high school graduates. This new course will be developed by the State Board of Education and North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and will ensure all students have access to high-quality instruction on the true cost of credit, borrowing, credit scores and reports, and planning and paying for post-secondary education. The course will be required for graduation beginning with the class of 2024 and replaces a course that combined content standards in civics, government, and economics. The legislation assures that economics and personal finance content get more time and attention in a standalone course while civics and government content are still covered in the other three required social studies courses.
This successful legislation was the culmination of several years of hard work by a broad coalition of educators, non-profits—including the North Carolina Council on Economic Education—business leaders, and legislators, all of whom recognized the importance of economic and financial education for North Carolina’s young people.
