Managing Money, Risk, and Investing

This unit covers intermediate personal finance topics including reducing spending, tax strategies, primary investment vehicles and funds, retirement account allocation and transfers, credit and emergency reserves, insurance selection and problem resolution, home and education financing, and identifying fraud and unreliable information. It builds on foundational budgeting and income concepts and prepares students to apply investment and risk-management strategies in more advanced financial planning tasks in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze personal spending patterns, credit reports/scores, and emergency-reserve needs using case scenarios to produce a prioritized plan that increases savings and reduces reliance on high-cost credit
• Apply tax-reduction techniques, withholding/deduction adjustments, and financing options (including home mortgages and financial aid considerations) to calculate and compare after-tax costs for major purchases and income decisions
• Demonstrate selection and allocation of investment vehicles and fund types, and complete appropriate retirement-account transfer/rollover procedures, by creating diversified retirement and taxable investment plans aligned with stated goals and risk tolerance
• Evaluate insurance needs and consumer safeguards by assessing disability, auto, and homeowner policies, resolving insurance problems, identifying scams and unreliable information sources, and making informed decisions about hiring financial professionals