You carry them around with you all the time and apparently break them quite a bit. According to this survey, 2/3 of smartphone users damaged their phones in the past year. 

Answer: $29-$329, depending on the model and whether you have carry the AppleCare+ insurance

Questions:

• Have you damaged your phone in the last year? If so, have you gotten it repaired? 
• Do you carry cell phone insurance? Why or why not? 
• Does knowing that 2/3 of cell phone users damage their phones in a given year impact your decision on whether or not to get insurance?
• The cost to repair a phone is only $29 if you have AppleCare + insurance which costs about $99/year. If you broke your iPhone X twice in the year after your warranty ran out, would having the insurance be a "good deal?"

Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (Square Trade):

The study found that 66% of smartphone owners damaged their phones in the past year, with cracked screens leading the way as the most common type of damage (29%). Scratched screens (27%) and nonworking batteries (22%) took second and third place respectively, with touchscreen issues and chipped corners/sides tying at 16% each.

While we all think of ourselves as responsible smartphone owners, damage is often the result of simple clumsiness. By far, the most common cause of smartphone damage is dropping a phone on the ground (74%). Others are the phone falling out of a pocket (49%), being dropped in water (39%), being knocked off a table or counter (38%), being dropped in the toilet (26%) or falling out of a bag (22%).

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Our latest FinCap Friday, It's Not All It's Cracked Up to "G", informs your students about the speedy, next generation wireless networks. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.