Category Chapters

Mar 25 2015

Financial advice for singles

Since they usually have fewer financial responsibilities, singles have a greater opportunity to save for a future family, advanced career training, or long-term financial security (retirement). Singles are also able to share their time (volunteering), talents (teaching others skills/knowledge they possess), and treasures (financial donations) to address local and global concerns related to education, hunger, safe water, health care, job training, and other social issues. Single people, as well as others, may take advantage of free community events, doing volunteer work, and using barter/exchange platforms to share recreational facilities, events, and experiences.

For additional information on financial advice for single, click here:

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students talk with others who are involved in addressing various social concerns through volunteering and other community service activities.
  • Have students survey several people to determine various actions that might be considered for achieving financial goals.

Discussion Questions 

  1. How does your life situation affect your financial responsibilities and spending?
  2. What short-term and long-term financial goals are you planning for at this point in your life?
Mar 21 2015

Three Key Interview Questions

While a person should expect a wide range of questions in a job interview, awareness of three main questions can help a person better focus their preparation.  Instead of practicing answers to a long list of possible questions, emphasize responses to these questions.

1.  Have you got the skills, expertise and experience to perform the job?
This question will allow you to communicate your competencies that are required to do the job.

2.  Are you enthusiastic and interested in the job and the company?
This question will demonstrate that you researched the company, its strategy, markets, and products.

3. Will you fit into the team, culture and company?
This question allows job applicants to discuss their personality and work style along with how they might fit into the organization.

Responses to these three questions will prepare a person to respond to most other questions. Your answers should be presented in a comfortable manner to create a natural, two-way conversation with the interviewer.

For additional information on the three interview questions, click here:

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students prepare preliminary answers for these three key interview questions.
  • Have students obtain suggestions for effective interviewing by talking with people who recently interviewed for a job.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What information is commonly presented in effective interview question responses?
  2. Explain how job applicants might organize their ideas to better present themselves in an interview.
Mar 18 2015

Prepaid Industry Scorecard

Millions of consumers use prepaid cards for spending, saving, and managing their money. Card issuers offer diverse products to meet the needs of users and prepaid cards vary immensely across the industry. Such diversity is beneficial to consumers, provided that the overall quality of products is high and that providers continually strive to meet the needs of consumers.

At the same time, it is important at this point in the industry’s development to take stock of the quality of products in the marketplace and to encourage prepaid card issuers to pursue policies that actively improve consumers’ financial lives. Drawing upon the framework of CFSI’s Compass Principles and the definitions of quality articulated in the Compass Guide to Prepaid, this report assesses the level of quality in the current prepaid card marketplace and provides a set of benchmarks against which future progress can be measured.

Eighteen General Purpose Reloadable (GPR) cards are analyzed in this report. These cards collectively represent approximately 90% of the total GPR card marketplace and include the largest players in the industry, as well as a sampling of smaller programs with particularly innovative cards. To develop scores for the industry as a whole, these eighteen cards were assessed against the recommendations outlined in the Compass Guide to Prepaid. Quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were employed to generate scores that accurately capture the quality of products in the prepaid card marketplace.

For additional information on the Prepaid Card Industry Scorecard, click here:

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students research various fees associated with prepaid debit cards.
  • Have students create a short video that communicates actions to avoid fees for prepaid debit cards.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What are the main differences between traditional and prepaid debit cards?
  2. Explain situations when people might use a prepaid debit card.
  3. Are there certain age demographics that would use prepaid debit cards more?
Mar 11 2015

Mortgage Comparison Calculator

Many home buyers do not shop around for a mortgage. Failing to comparison shop for a mortgage often means higher monthly payments and paying thousands of dollars more in interest over the life of the loan.  A recent survey of mortgage borrowers revealed that:

  • Nearly half of borrowers only consider one lender or broker before applying for a mortgage.
  • Over three-fourths of borrowers only apply to one lender.
  • Lenders and brokers were the most common mortgage information source; with real estate agent also used. Other source of information were websites, financial and housing counselors, friends, relatives and coworkers.

Home buyers should complete an application with multiple lenders or brokers in an effort to get a better deal.  Also, ask questions and take actions to help you find the best mortgage for you

For additional information on comparing mortgage rates, click here:

For the complete report on study, click here:

A mortgage comparison calculator is available, click here:

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students interview people who own homes to obtain information about the mortgage process they used.
  • Have students prepare a data summary of mortgage rates for different lenders in their area.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What actions can be taken to reduce mortgage costs?
  2. Describe factors that a person should consider when choosing among several mortgage lenders.
Mar 7 2015

THINGS NOT TO BUY

To avoid wasting money, financial experts suggest cutting back on items that might not best serve your needs, such as:

  • cable television, since there are less expensive alternatives such as online streaming, which save a person over $800 a year.
  • name-brand razor blades costs can be reduced by using a membership program or by shopping at a discount retailer.
  • bottled water costs can reduced by using a home purification system.
  • USB drive costs can be reduced with the use of cloud storage.

For additional information on wise buying, click here:

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students talk to others and create a list of items on which money is often wasted.
  • Have students suggest lower-cost alternatives for various items that are purchased regularly.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What actions can be taken to find low-cost alternatives for items that are purchased frequently?
  2. Explain short-term and long-term financial benefits of saving money on items that are purchased frequently.
Mar 4 2015

Tax Scams

Phone calls from criminals impersonating an Internal Revenue Service agent are the most common and serious tax scams reported by the IRS. Taxpayers should be aware the IRS never calls demanding payment or to ask for a credit card; the agency will first make contact by mail.

Phishing involves a taxpayer receiving an unsolicited email trying to obtain financial or personal information.  These phony emails often look very official with an IRS logo.  Tax-related identity theft occurs when a stolen a Social Security number is used to file a tax return for a refund.  Fraudulent tax preparation services prey on innocent taxpayers with promises of large refunds.  Be sure to investigate the credentials of the tax preparer and make sure the preparer will be available after April 15.  Avoid tax preparers who base their fees on a percentage of the refund or promise a large refund.

Other common tax scams include inflated refund claims, fake charities, filing false documents to hide income, abusive tax shelters, falsifying income to claim tax credits, and excessive claims for fuel tax credits.

For additional information on tax scams, click here:

Teaching Suggestions

  • Have students talk with others to obtain information about actions taken to file their taxes.
  • Have students prepare a list of warning signs of tax scams.

Discussion Questions 

  1. What attitudes and behaviors can result in a person being a victim of a tax scam?
  2. What actions can taxpayers take to avoid being a victim of a tax scam?
Feb 28 2015

Your 2015 Tax Return and the Health Care Law

Certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act will probably affect your federal income tax return when you file this year.  The law requires that you and each member of your family have qualifying health insurance coverage for each month of the year, qualify for an exemption from the coverage requirement, or make an individual shared responsibility payment when filing your federal income tax return.

Most taxpayers will simply check a box on the tax return to indicate that each member of their family had qualifying health coverage for the whole year.  Qualifying health insurance includes coverage for most, but not all, types of health care coverage plans.  If you bought coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace, you should receive Form 1095A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement from your Marketplace by early February.

For more information, Click Here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Ask students to search the Internet to gather more information about the new IRS requirements and the Affordable Care Act.
  • What are provisions that might affect an individual and their families?

Discussion Questions

  1. What are the reporting requirements when you file your federal income tax return this year?
  2. How can you determine if you are eligible for an exemption?
  3. What should you do if you are expecting to receive 1095A and you don’t receive it by early February.
Feb 25 2015

Unscrupulous Debt Collectors

In January 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice sued a Texas-based Commercial Recovery System, Inc., a debt collection company that allegedly impersonated attorneys, law firm staff, judicial employees and mediators.  The company threatened people with lawsuits, seizure of their property, or wage garnishment.  All these practices are against the law.  Under federal law, debt collectors–including collection agencies, lawyers who collect debts, and companies that buy delinquent debts and then try to collect them–can’t use abusive, deceptive or unfair practices to collect from you.

For additional information, click here.

Teaching Suggestions

  • Ask students to check a local Consumer Credit Counseling Service to learn about their services provided to consumers.
  • Ask students to compile a list of places a person can call to report dishonest credit practices, get advice and help with credit problems.

Discussion Questions

  1. Which federal law(s) protect your rights if you are ever contacted by a debt collector?
  2. If you need help regaining control of your finances, what resources are available to you?
Feb 21 2015

The One Financial Mistake that Could Cost Homeowners a Bundle

“Interest rates have bounced around historical lows for years, yet a surprising number of homeowners who could benefit from a refinancing still haven’t taken advantage of the potential cost savings.”

In this article, Marine Cole points out some surprising facts about interest rates and the reasons why people don’t refinance their homes.  According to Ms. Cole and other experts, some people are simply unaware of their current rate or don’t have the get-up-and gumption to refinance.  Other factors include procrastination, mistrust, and the inability to understand complex decisions may also be barriers to refinancing.

The article also points out that the decision to refinance could result in thousands of dollars in savings for the homeowner.  For example, refinancing a 30-year, $200,000 mortgage from 6.5 percent to a current rate of 3.35 percent will save approximately $130,000 in interest payments over the life of the loan.

For more information, click here. 

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • Stress the importance of making sound financial decisions not only when buying or refinancing a home, but other aspects of your financial life.
  • Discuss the reasons mentioned in this article that describe why people would not refinance and take advantage of lower interest rates for buying or refinancing a home.

Discussion Questions

  1. How important is comparing interest rates when either purchasing a home or refinancing an existing home mortgage?
  2. According to this article, there are many reasons why people don’t refinance their home. If you were refinancing a home mortgage, what would be your major obstacle to refinancing an existing home mortgage?  How could you overcome this obstacle?
  3. Assuming you had a chance to refinance your home and save $100,000 over the life of the loan, would you refinance? Explain the factors that would influence your decision.
Feb 18 2015

The Seven Baby Steps (Dave Ramsey)

“Get out of debt the same way you learned to walk–one step at a time.”

This article describes Dave Ramsey’s seven steps that anyone can take to get out of debt and begin to manage their personal finances.  These seven basic principles have been taught by Mr. Ramsey via radio, books, Financial Peace University, live events, and online.  Listed below are the seven steps discussed in this article.  Note:  You can get more information about each step by clicking on the “Learn More” tab.

  1. Begin by creating a $1,000 emergency fund.
  2. Pay off all debt using the debt snowball .
  3. Save 3 to 6 months of expenses in a savings account.
  4. Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement accounts.
  5. Create a college funding plan for your children.
  6. Pay off your home mortgage early.
  7. Build wealth and give.

For more information, click here. 

Teaching Suggestions

You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to

  • Ask students visit the Dave Ramsey website.
  • Discuss some or all of the seven baby steps described in this article. Reminder:  Students can get more information by clicking on the “Learn More” tab.

Discussion Questions

  1. How can the seven baby steps help you manage your personal finances?
  2. Do the steps in this article make you want to change your priorities and what’s important in your life? Justify your answer.