National Standards for Financial Literacy

The It’s a Money Thing topics are aligned with the Council for Economic Education’s National Standards for Financial Literacy. The standards contain the areas of knowledge and understanding that are fundamental to personal finance:

  1. Earning Income
  2. Buying Goods & Services
  3. Saving
  4. Using Credit
  5. Financial Investing
  6. Protecting & Insuring

For our program in general and for our It’s a Money Thing Academy course curriculum, we’ve broken “Credit” into “Credit” and “Borrowing” plus we’ve also added a “Credit Union Advantage” standard.

  1. Earning Income
  2. Buying Goods & Services
  3. Saving
  4. Using Credit
  5. Borrowing
  6. Financial Investing
  7. Protecting & Insuring
  8. Credit Union Advantage

This is how our content pack library fits into the standards. The standards also help inform future topics that we’ll cover.

Earning an Income

  • Income Essentials
  • After Grad: Work or College
  • How to Save On Tuition
  • Acing the Job Interview
  • Let’s Talk Taxes
  • Common Money Beliefs
  • Earning Money Online
  • Working Remotely – MAY ’21
  • Writing a Business Plan
  • Navigating Loss of Income – MAR ’21
  • Making Money Junior Series

Buying Goods & Services

  • Know Your Checking Account
  • Budgeting Basics
  • Building a Budget
  • Good vs. Bad Spending
  • Living On Your Own
  • Buying a Used Car
  • How to Save on Groceries
  • Paying for Pets
  • Spending Money Junior Series

Saving

  • Understanding Inflation
  • Pay Yourself First
  • Emergency Fund Boot Camp
  • Responding to Financial Emergencies – JAN ’21
  • Avoiding Lifestyle Creep
  • Saving with New Skills – JUL ’21
  • Saving Money Junior Series

Using Credit

  • Breakdown of a Credit Score
  • Boost Your Credit Score
  • Comparing Cards
  • Using Your Credit Card

Borrowing

  • Loan Basics
  • Student Loans 101
  • Leasing vs. Buying a New Car
  • Predatory Lending
  • Owning vs. Renting a Home
  • Demystifying Mortgages
  • Strategies for Debt Repayment
  • Borrowing Money Junior Series

Financial Investing

  • Saving for Retirement
  • Compound Interest Mind Bend
  • Investment Vehicles
  • Rule of 72
  • Trends in the Stock Market
  • Giving Money Junior Series – SEP ’21
  • Growing Money Junior Series – NOV ’21

Protecting & Insuring

  • Foiling Identity Theft
  • How to Spot Scams
  • Intro to Insurance
  • Organizing Your Finances

Credit Union Advantage

  • Choosing Your Financial Institution
  • Growing Your Money Locally
  • Credit Union Myths
  • 7 Co-operative Principles