SAVING AND INVESTING

Explore the big idea of saving and investing and the associated concepts, competencies, and academic standards at various grade levels.

 

Big Idea & Essential Questions

Saving and investing habits influence lifelong opportunities for financial independence.

  • Why do people choose to save and invest money?

  • In what ways do people save and invest their money?

  • Why do some investments have the potential for greater return and risk than others?

 

Core Concepts & Competencies

Within the Pennsylvania Personal Finance Instructional Framework, the big idea of saving and investing includes five core concepts. The competencies for each can be found below or download the PDF version which includes a correlation to the Pennsylvania Academic Standards.

  • Saving

  • Interest

  • Assets

  • Investing

  • Fraud

 

High School (Grades 9-12)

Saving: Analyze savings goals and options people have at various life stages.

Interest: Evaluate benefits and costs of changes in interest rates for individuals and society.

Assets: Develop a definition of wealth considering personal values, priorities, and goals.

Investing: Critique investment plans in terms of their ability to achieve goals of liquidity, income, growth, and tax benefit.

Investing: Analyze the risks and returns of various investments.

Fraud: Analyze the role of federal and state regulators in protecting savers and investors.

 

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

Saving: Compare and contrast the various financial tools available to savers.

Interest: Compare simple and compound interest.

Assets: Estimate the extent to which assets may increase or decrease in value and describe how people accumulate assets.

Investing: Evaluate the benefits of a diversified investment portfolio.

 

Elementary (Grades 3-5)

Saving: Identify the costs and benefits of saving.

Interest: Explain interest charged versus interest earned.

Assets: Describe how people accumulate tangible and intangible assets.

Investing: Discuss the purpose and function of investments.

 

Primary (Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 2)

Saving: Define saving and explain why people save.