Consumer Math

 

            This course will address the decision making process and associated math for a variety of financial decisions.  The goal is to give students the tools to make informed decisions, not only for the near-term college days, but for a healthy and independent financial lifestyle.  It will look at an individual’s overall financial picture as well as the mechanical tasks involved in personal finances.

 

Some of the specific areas to be covered include:

 

Budgeting

-Analysis of the cost of one’s lifestyle.

-Employment  revenue, salary, qualificatons, career choices, and personal factors

-Payroll & deductions, mandatory vs. voluntary deductions and their priorities, gross vs.

  net pay

-Savings and investment, overview and types, stages of investment

-Types of expenses, fixed and variable, purchasing decisions, relation to customer credit

-Making good purchase decisions

-Preparing a personal budget

 

Checking Accounts & ATMs

-Reconciling a checkbook

 

Consumer Credit

-Being a wise consumer – not all credit card offers are created equal

-Cost of credit

-Credit rating

 

Risk Management

-Property, auto and health insurance

-What’s important, how much do you need, decisions affecting cost

 

Taxes

-Understanding employment tax forms

-Doing income tax using Turbo Tax

 

Basic Needs

-Food and housing options

-Understanding lease obligations

-Costs and sharing of expenses

 

Homework

Homework will be assigned regularly.  It will be posted on www.teacherweb.com under ChambersG.  If a student is absent, he/she is expected to check the web for assignments.  Since the course will focus on personal finance, homework will tend to be individualized.  Many assignments will involve the data gathering for a larger project, such as creating a budget.  

 

Grading

For overall Indian Creek grading policies, please refer to the student handbook.  Final grades for Consumer Math will be based on a combination of homework, written assignments and projects and  tests.

 

Materials

Text:  Managing Your Personal Finances, Joan S. Ryan, ISBN 0-538-44175-5

 

Binder: (As opposed to a spiral notebook)

Students will need to keep paperwork in order as they track data and do research for preparation of  personal budget.

 

Basic Calculator