Does Your Money Really Grow On Trees?
[Modified from the Bergen Record financial literacy curriculum]

Grades 11-12
Consumer and Personal Finance

Name: Dr. Barbara O’Neill, CFP
Agency: Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Name: Dr. Celia Hayhoe, CFP
Agency: Virginia Cooperative Extension
Lesson Plan: Phyllis Garnant, NJ Department of Education

1. Analyze how one can make money work for the individual through savings and investments.
2. List types of financial institutions that offer savings accounts and the agencies that insure them.
3. Identify and define terms related to time value of money, savings, and investments.
4. Summarize reasons for savings and explain the connection to goal setting.
5. Explain how loans influence the time value of money.
6. Compare amounts accumulated, given different times, rates of return, and frequencies of compounding.

Read, comprehend, and complete the section of Money...What Young Adults Need to Know, and "Does Your Money Really Grow on Trees?" (http://www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs/career/resources.htm)

1. Read pages 5-7, "Does Your Money Really Grow on Trees?" (a PDF file off http://www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs/career/resources.htm). Complete activities using Web sites as directed.
2. Make a list of 10 items (some large, and some small) you would like to save for in the next week, year, and five years. Determine approximate costs of the items and possible sources of money to pay for the items.
3. Choose one of your long-term items and use the "Rule of 72" (p.5) to determine how long it would take to save for the item. How much money would you need to earn to pay for the item?
4. Project what would happen in the following situation: Many students decide they would like to go to college out of state. One school under consideration costs $42,000 per year for tuition, room and board. Determine the amount of money your parents would need to save if they started setting aside money when you were 10 years of age at 6% interest.

Using a defined amount of money, such as $1,000, at the current interest rate. Compare how interest would accumulate for one year using daily, quarterly, semi-annually, and annually computed interest. Make recommendations on the type of savings plan you would choose, giving supporting documentation.

Prepare a sample brochure that emphasizes savings, reasons for saving, and types of financial institutions for 9th graders. Include sample questions a person might ask in searching for an appropriate savings account or method.

Read a magazine article about savings, loans, or interest. Prepare and give a lesson for a middle schooler on your chosen topic. See the recommended reading list at http://www.ext.vt.edu/niemoney/timevalue.html.

See Money...What Young Adults Need to Know on http://www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs/career/resources.htm for basic information and additional Web sites.

See additional activities, online calculators, and books at the Virginia Cooperative Extension Web site at http://www.ext.vt.edu/niemoney/timevalue.html.

Terms: Interest, savings club, compound interest, principal, certificate of deposit, savings and loan, commercial banks, credit unions, passbook savings accounts, U.S. savings bonds, savings plan, simple interest, annual percentage rate, annual percentage yield, compounding, and inflation.