Title: Develop a spending plan.
Course: Independent Living (22904-18) > Section: Managing Personal and Family Finances

Development should include

- establishing SMART goals
- examining spending plans for a variety of individuals and families with different incomes and obligations
- evaluating a variety of investment opportunities.

Process/Skill Questions:

Thinking

- What are SMART goals?
- What are your long-term financial goals? What skills and strategies can you develop now that will help you achieve these long-term goals?
- Why is it important to be knowledgeable about financial management? What might be the consequences of a failure to understand the concepts of financial management?

Communication

- What advances in technology are helping with financial management?
- How can you use communication skills to learn about services offered by financial institutions (e.g., banks, credit unions)?
- How can you use communication skills to learn about investment opportunities?

Leadership

- What can establishing and following good spending plan techniques allow you to do?
- Why is it important to be disciplined when following a spending plan?
- How can you influence others to respect your spending plan?

Management

- How much money, as a percentage of income, should you try to save each month?
- What are the benefits of preventing impulse buying/spending?
- Where should you save money?

Teacher Resources:

- Educator Toolkit for 2011 National Financial Capability Challenge, U.S. Department of Education (https://www.ed.gov/category/keyword/educator-toolkit-2011-national-financial-capability-challenge)
- Virginia Council on Economic Education (https://vcee.org/)
- Virginia Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy (https://www.jumpstart.org/who-we-are/states/virginia/)