Who are interested in the competition
Contest information
Maximum 7 students per class
Competition Introduction
Students will be in a team of 3 or 4 members to participate in the State and Final levels of the competition. Each state champion will join the National Finals held in person. The National Personal Finance Challenge Finals will involve teams presenting a case study in which they are given a fictitious family scenario. They will have two hours to prepare a plan and present it to a panel of judges who evaluate their financial content knowledge, teamwork, and presentation skills. Winners will receive a banner and $2,000 for each team member.
Class Introduction
The National Personal Finance Challenge is a premier competition where high school students can showcase their knowledge of personal finance. This course is designed to prepare you to compete confidently at both the state and national levels. Through a structured curriculum, you will build a strong foundation in key financial concepts, including earning income, spending, saving, investing, managing credit, and understanding risk.
Outcome
After completing the course, students are expected to reach the following goals:
- Understand how income is generated and how factors such as taxes, interest rates, and inflation impact income.
- Explore the concepts of buying goods and services through the examination of personal budgets, expenses, and income.
- Understand the importance of saving through the analysis of compound interest and the role of financial institutions and services in saving.
- Examine the importance of credit by studying credit reports and scores, along with personal decision-making through consumer credit.
- Explore investment instruments, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and the concepts of risk, return, and time horizon.
- Understand the management of risk by accepting, reducing, or transferring risk.
- Utilize practice exams and case studies to prepare for the National Personal Finance Challenge competition.
- Compete in the National Personal Finance Challenge at your state level
Course Content
| Lesson | Topics |
| 1 | Earning Income: Paycheck Analysis & Tax Savings |
| 2 | Earning Income: Time Value of Money |
| 3 | Spending: Money Management & Financial Goals |
| 4 | Spending: Budgets |
| 5 | Saving: Growing Money & the Role of Interest |
| 6 | Saving: The Role of Financial Institutions |
| 7 | Saving: Financial Services |
| 8 | Managing Credit: Credit Cards |
| 9 | Managing Credit: Credit Reports & Loan Applications |
| 10 | Investing: Stocks & Bonds |
| 11 | Investing: Rule of 72 |
| 12 | Investing: Exploring the Stages of Investing |
| 13 | Managing Risk: Risk and Insurance |
| 14 | Managing Risk: Scams |
| 15 | National Personal Finance Challenge Test Prep |
Feedback
Students and their parents will receive brief feedback after each class regarding the student’s general participation in class. Students will also receive feedback on graded assignments via email.
Schedule
30 hours of group instruction.
