Session 1

Taking Control of Your Financial Future

Examine the Numbers

The course teaches students how to make wise financial decisions to promote financial well-being over their lifetime. Topics covered include saving and investing, budgeting, financial risk, borrowing and credit. The interactive lessons translate complex financial concepts and help students develop actionable strategies for managing their finances. Students accelerate their financial understanding through case-studies, problem-solving, self-reflection, videos and games that provide real-life scenarios for practice.

By the end of the course students will be able to:

  • Develop a tactical strategy for setting financial goals and managing their budget
  • Understand the purchase processes for everyday purchases like a car and house
  • Develop an understanding of credit, how a credit score is calculated and the impact of that score on the features and fees associated with credit cards
  • Develop an understanding of taxes and deductions
  • Understand how financial institutions work, how to use them, the different products they offer and how to manage their own account portfolio
Curriculum

The financial literacy lessons are broken down through videos, readings and activities to help students apply what they are learning in real-time. Students will:

  • Prepare their budget and cash flow statement that will simulate managing monthly finances
  • Select the checking, savings, electronic banking and other bank services that meet their needs
  • Analyze the advantages of buying versus renting a home
  • Analyze the advantage of buying versus leasing a car
  • Learn about credit scores and develop a plan to establish a strong credit history
  • Use tax simulations software to help with filing taxes and understanding the pros and cons of tax software
  • Calculate how much life insurance they need
students looking through worksheets
Planned Topics

Planned topics include:

  • Budgeting and cash flow management
  • Saving strategies
  • Assessing cash flow and taxes
  • The time value of money
  • Net worth and credit score
  • Borrowing and credit
  • Investing
  • Risk management
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Session 1 Faculty Lead
Farley Staniec

Associate Professor of Economics

PhD, Duke University, 1992

Dr. Staniec is an applied microeconomist whose research is broadly concerned with how individuals make choices and how changes in costs, benefits and information can affect their behavior. The primary focus of her research is factors affecting students' choices in college enrollment, persistence and degree attainment.

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Farley Staniec
Thomas Brierton
Session 2 Faculty Lead
Thomas Brierton

Associate Professor, Eberhardt School of Business

Juris Doctor, Northern Illinois University
BBA Accounting & Finance, University of Wisconsin Madison

Professor Brierton specializes in Commercial Law and Ethics for professional accountants. His research has focused in the areas of antitrust law, competitive markets, employment regulation and the entertainment industry. He has been involved in both the academic and legal environments for over thirty years and as an attorney, he has litigated a wide variety of cases in private practice and served as a consultant to many organizations throughout the western half of the United States.

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