Fundamentals of Teaching Personal Finance

The key to a good course is content, context and sequence with appropriate pacing. When teaching personal finance you must teach a set of foundational topics before getting into more complex content. It’s similar to other courses you teach, for example - if you are teaching math - you don’t jump into complex formulas and graphs on day one – you focus on the fundamentals first. 

Why Money Matters Tips:

  • Avoid lessons that are too personal or asking students to “share their work” with others.  Personal finance is just that – it’s personal - students may not feel comfortable sharing their work.
  • Use the power of assessment to guide students but let them make our own choices.
  • Avoid lessons that directly relate to your students, they could feel like they are being judged.  
  • NEVER teaching a lesson about “Needs vs. Wants”. It’s impossible to know what your students need and unrealistic to assume they even understand the concepts of needs. Furthermore, going down this pathway offers no real advantage to teaching budgeting.  For example, a high school student may believe they need a car or a mobile phone. Whether it is a need or not does not matter as the focus should be on the opportunity cost of owning a mobile phone.  Pursuit of this argument could cause a student to lose interest in the course.
  • Focus on lessons that discuss how students have the opportunity to make choices and how these choices lead to consequences. For example, explain how choosing to get a new car or have an unlimited text messaging plan, it’s possible they are missing out on an opportunity to save for their college education.

For more suggestions and resources from experts at Why Money Matters, visit our Professional Development section to find opportunities for teacher workshops, classes and a certificate program to become content certified.

It’s essential that you understand the personal finance topics so you can successfully teach your students. We explain the fundamentals of finance and provide insight to resources, tools available and strategies for teaching and engaging your students – we help make learning fun.