Ten Tips To Get Your
Students Financially Fit
Stanley Breitbard, CPA/PFS
Member, National CPA Financial Literacy
Commission
Chair Emeritus, California Jump$tart Coalition
1. Educate Them About America’s
Financial Crisis
• Financial literacy is a national problem.
• It affects every income level and social class.
• It affects young and old.
• It’s color blind.
• It impacts individuals, families, businesses,
communities, states and the Federal Government.
Some Startling Statistics
• In 2003, 1.6 million Americans filed for
bankruptcy, the highest amount in history (Amer.
Bankruptcy Inst.).
• 43% of American families spend more than they
earn (Federal Reserve).
• Americans carry an average credit card debt of
more than $8,500 (Motley Fool).
• The average American family saw its credit card
debt grow by 53% in the 1990s (Demos).
AICPA Poll
• Designed to assess financial planning
knowledge and sense of financial security
among Americans
• Confirmed other national studies showing
serious need for financial education
AICPA Roper Poll, May 2004
Percentage who have never
heard of key financial terms…
•Income Replacement at Retirement 61%
•ERISA 76%
•Reverse Mortgage 35%
•Joint/Survivor Annuities 32%
•Portfolio Diversification 30%
•Compound Interest 28%
•401(k) Plans 49%
One in Three Americans In
Two-Income Households Don’t Have
Financial Contingency Plans Should
They Lose One Income
36
61
3
No, do not Don't Know Yes, have plan
Not prepared for unexpected
major expenses
Asked how they would handle a financial
emergency they couldn’t manage on their
own, Americans would:
o Borrow money from their family (51%)
o Sell their house, car, or other thing of
value (49%)
o File for bankruptcy (24%)
2. Help Students Make the
Connection
• 11 % of teens 12-19 have their own credit card; an
additional 10% have access to a parent's credit card.
(Teenage Research Unlimited)
• College students carry an average of three credit cards
with a total balance of $2,748. (Nat’l Center for Educ.
Stat.)
• Children’s spending has increased dramatically. Kids ages
4-12 spent 2.2 billion in 1968, 4.2 billion in 1984, 17.1
billion in 1994, and more than $40 billion in 2002.
(Packaged Facts, 2002, “The U.S. Kids Market”)
3. Test Your Students’ Money IQ
• Give them the Jump$tart Personal
Financial Survey
• Got to www.jumpstart.org and click on
Downloads
• Tests knowledge of income, money
management, saving and investing,
spending and credit
A Failing Grade—
Average Scores for 4 Surveys
• 1997– 57.3%
• 2000– 51.9%
• 2002– 50.2%
• 2004– 52.3%
Will your students do better?
4. Integrate Financial Literacy
into Your Classroom
• 87 percent of college students and 90 percent of high school
students rely on their parents for financial guidance. (Capitol
One)
• Only 26% of 13- to 21-year-olds reported that their parents
actively taught them how to manage money. (Jump$tart)
• Only 7 states require high school students to complete a
course including personal finance before graduating. (NCEE,
April 2004, Survey of the States)
• Only 9 states require testing in personal finance. (NCEE,
April 2004, Survey of the States)
Financial Education Works
• Students who participated in a personal finance
game had an average test score of 2% higher
than those who did not. (Mandell and
Jump$tart)
• People who even start thinking about financial
planning save twice as much as those who do
not. (Consumer Federation)
Personal Finance Clearinghouse
• Jump$tart Personal Finance Clearinghouse
offers over 500 personal finance tools for
educators.
• Materials for grades K-12.
• Go to: www.jumpstart.org and click on
resources and then Clearinghouse.
• Search topic, grade level, type of
material, source
Personal Finance Subjects to
Add to Coursework
• Value of Money
• Budgets
• Cash Management
• Banking
• Credit and Debt
• Saving
• Investing
• Interest
• Financial Planning
5. Take Your Students to the 360
Degrees of Financial Literacy Web
Site– www.360financialliteracy.org
• 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy is a
national effort of the CPA profession to
improve the financial understanding of
Americans.
• CPAs, through local programs across the
U.S., are teaching community members
about personal finance and money
management.
Over 300 Articles
Over 500 FAQs
Over 260 Financial Tools
6. Watch PBS TV Shows
with Your Students
• Available on the 360 Web Site
• Penny Wise
o For middle school students
• Business Building Blocks
o For high school students
Downloadable
programs for middle
and high school
students
7. Use Presentation Toolkits Available
Online– www.aicpa.org/financialliteracy
8. Take Advantage of the Takin’
Care of Business Package
• Easy-to-use tools for
teachers to give students a
good grounding in
understanding financial
concepts and how they
relate to real-world
situations.
• Video, teacher’s education
handbook and student
guides
Performance Measures and Standards
1. Strategic and Critical Thinking
2. Problem Solving and Decision-
Making
3. Decision-Modeling
4. Research and Reporting
5. Technology
6. Team Building
7. Communication
Lessons Plans on Variety of Personal
Finance Topics
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Budgeting & Forcasting
• Break-Even Analysis
• Financial Planning
• Time Value of Money
• The Purpose of Taxation
9. Get Yourself in Good
Financial Shape with Financial
Smarts for Teachers
• http://www.financialsmarts.ucr.edu/
10. Call Your State CPA Society– Local
School Programs Offered Throughout the
U.S.
For More Information
E-mail: financialliteracy@aicpa.org
Consumer Web Site: www.360financialliteracy.org
Resource Center: www.aicpa.org/financialliteracy