CLIENT LOGIN

Financial Literacy College Curriculum

Quickly start improving student financial capability - in the classroom - with iGrad's self-service, college curriculum.

Your Financial Mastery, iGrad's comprehensive classroom curriculum, is co-written by Sharon Lechter, CPA, the co-author of best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Angela Totman, CPFFE. Designed to meet the standards of a for-credit, higher education course, our financial literacy curriculum is flexible and easy to adapt to the particular needs of your school and instructors. Contact Us to learn why Your Financial Mastery is one of the most important gifts you can give your students on their academic journey.

What's Included?

15-chapter Student Workbook is engaging and easy to digest, encouraging students to apply the concepts to emulated, real-life financial experiences.

Student Workbook

The Instructor Guide includes a comprehensive curriculum outline, suggested exercises and discussion guides for the classroom, as well as answer keys for assessments and workbook exercises.

Instructor Guide

With the Your Financial Mastery curriculum, both students and instructors are given access to an online companion site with supporting materials, such as videos and interactive exercises.

Online Companion

Objectives & Key Terms

Each chapter of the financial literacy curriculum is organized around the core competencies students will master and the key terms they will learn.

Mindsets

'Mindset' exercises help students challenge, analyze and assess the preconceptions and psychology that we all bring to our personal finances.

Exercises

Exercises help students demonstrate financial capability by practicing the course concepts with simulated, real-life money management situations.

Quick Tips

Quick tips are included throughout the in-class curriculum, delivering bite-sized, relevant tips for each of the financial concepts that are addressed.

Assessments

Easy-to-grade assessments measure student understanding and comprehension of each financial literacy core competency in the curriculum.

Case Studies

Case studies bring abstract financial concepts to life by allowing students to see financial literacy's application to real-world scenarios.

Methodology: The 'Flipped Classroom' Approach

Inverted Classroom

We designed the Your Financial Mastery in- class curriculum based on the proven effective, 'flipped' or 'inverted' classroom method.

In-Class and At-Home Learning

According to this methodology, the 'lecture' is done at home through various mediums included in the curriculum, and what used to be 'homework' (assigned problems) is now done during class along with discussion forums.

Highly Effective

This method has proven highly effective for knowledge and discussion-based topics, such as financial literacy.

About the Authors

Sharon Lecther, CPA

Sharon Lechter is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, philanthropist, education advocate and international speaker. Celebrating over 35 years as a CPA, Sharon is also a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). She has been a pioneer in developing new technologies, programs and products, including the award winning ThriveTime for Teens board game, to bring education into student's lives in ways that are innovative, challenging and fun and remains committed to financial literacy education. Co-author of the international bestselling book Rich Dad Poor Dad and 14 other books in the Rich Dad series, Sharon's most recent book project is Think and Grow Rich for Women, which follows Outwitting the Devil and Three Feet from Gold, all in association with the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Sharon also authored Save Wisely, Spend Happily in cooperation with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Angela Totman, CPFFE

Angela Totman is a Certified Personal and Family Finance Educator with over 10 years of experience teaching and developing financial literacy resources and programs. As Vice President and COO at Pay Your Family First, Angela drives programs that change participants' lives while nurturing partnerships with individuals and organizations that share in Pay Your Family First's passion for financial education. She has participated in the development of award winning tools such as the ThriveTime for Teens board game and YOUTHpreneur BIZkit, and programs that engage participants through creative learning and instill lessons that can be immediately applied for the strengthening and improvement of families and communities.

Curriculum Overview

Chapter 1: The Basics

Learning Objectives

Identify financial values categories
Define and identify types of Income and Expenses
Understand Gross/Net Pay and how to read a paycheck stub
Understand how to craft financial goals
Identify components of an income statement and balance sheet
Define a credit score

Chapter 2: Spending Plans, Banking Resources

Learning Objectives

Understand the benefits of transaction and savings accounts
Understand how compound interest helps saved money grow
Define and calculate future value
Track savings and read/reconcile bank statements
Define and create a spending plan

Chapter 3: Financial Statements

Learning Objectives

Identify components of an income statement
Analyze an income statement
Identify components of a balance sheet
Analyze a balance sheet
Calculate net worth
Create an income statement and balance sheet
Calculate financial ratios

Chapter 4: Credit, Credit Cards & Good Debt vs. Bad Debt

Learning Objectives

Understand loan basics such as interest, term, and prepayment, etc.
Define and calculate the cost of borrowing
Identify good debt vs. bad debt
Identify features and evaluate credit card offers
Understand your credit rights as a consumer

Chapter 5: Personal Loans, Automobiles & Home Ownership

Learning Objectives

Identify long-term versus short-term implications of borrowing
Understand how to meet financial goals and build assets
Understand the cost of borrowing and how that cost is determined
Plan, understand, and shop around for a loan with the lowest rate and best terms for you
Identify various types of loans
Understand general information on installment loans, including car loans
Understand when and how to use credit effectively
Plan for and meet your payment obligations
Track borrowing habits
Analyze renting or leasing versus owning assets (e.g., home or car)

Chapter 6: College Funding

Learning Objectives

Identify the various costs to college education
Differentiate between various types of financial aid
Identify information necessary for applying for student aid
Recognize characteristics of federal and private loans
Determine financial aid need
Evaluate repayment options for student loans
Search for and identify alternatives to college loans

Chapter 7: Investing Basics

Learning Objectives

Explain how wealth is built
Identify asset classes and their financial benefits and risks
Define other people's money and explain its use with wealth building
Explain how time and compound interest impacts growth potentials
Define risk tolerance and risk capacity and how to mitigate investment risk
Explain inflation and how it impacts actual returns

Chapter 8: Bonds, Stocks, Mutual Funds & Other Paper Investments

Learning Objectives

Understand various investments including bonds, stocks, mutual funds, cash equivalents
Identify how the various investments could work for you
Understand fees and account types (no load, front end load, open end, close end)
Differentiate between fundamental and technical analysis
Identify the available sources for purchasing stock investments
Seek out and identify a financial advisor

Chapter 9: Investing - Real Estate

Learning Objectives

Learn how to accelerate your investment returns through real estate
Understand the pros and cons of investing in real estate
Understand the difference between cash flow and capital gain investing
Learn the tax advantages of investing in real estate
Learn which legal entity is best in which to hold your real estate property

Chapter 10: Entrepreneurship

Learning Objectives

Assess your personal fit to the entrepreneur lifestyle
Analyze new business ideas for fit to customer problems and solutions
Determine the type and place to create your new business entity
List and understand the requirements for a business plan
Understand the need for and types of intellectual property
Determine a viable business model for your startup
Understand how and why you need financial targets
Define financing and funding requirements
Realize the value and importance of customer service
Select the right business advisors

Chapter 11: Retirement Planning

Learning Objectives

Recognize the importance of planning for retirement
Implement retirement strategies to achieve financial goals
Differentiate among the types of investment vehicles for retirement
Understand the difference between retirement and non-retirement, and qualified and non-qualified investments
Asses your overall financial situation in determining retirement needs

Chapter 12: Protecting Your Assets With Insurance

Learning Objectives

Evaluate and manage risks from potential losses or unexpected events
Understand the need to build up an emergency fund
Understand the various types of insurance available
Analyze and choose appropriate insurance
Find and consult a qualified expert for assistance

Chapter 13: Taxes

Learning Objectives

Explain the history of taxes
Identify the purpose and uses of taxes
Differentiate between types of taxes
Explain and calculate effective tax rate
Differentiate between rebates, credits, and deductions
Identify applicable deductions
Differentiate between filing statuses

Chapter 14: Protect Your Assets & Your Family

Learning Objectives

Understand what identity theft is
Learn ways to protect your identity
Avoid practices that are not in your financial best interest
Know the importance of critically analyzing advertisements and offers before acting
Understanding how to avoid fraud and scams
Understand the importance of reviewing your credit report annually
Know what documents everyone should have in place for estate planning
Identify essential steps to estate planning
Identify the right estate document based on your current situation

Chapter 15: Financial Recovery

Learning Objectives

Assess your financial health today (financial statements)
Identify what needs to change (budgeting)
Find ways to reduce expenses or increase income
Know the difference between credit repair and credit consolidation
Understand the different ways to deal with mortgage defaults and home value decreases
Know when bankruptcy is the last option and which type to choose

Financial Literacy College Curriculum

Quickly start improving student financial capability - in the classroom - with iGrad's self-service, college curriculum.

Download a Free Sample Chapter

What's Included?

Objectives & Key Terms

Mindsets

Exercises

Quick Tips

Assessments

Case Studies

Methodology: The 'Flipped Classroom' Approach

Inverted Classroom

In-Class and At-Home Learning

Highly Effective

Bring The Curriculum To Your School

Curriculum Overview

Download a Free Sample Chapter