Investing Unit

Students will be able to

• Define investing and distinguish it from saving and trading
• Identify reasons for investing, including outpacing inflation
• Explain what the stock market is and why companies and investors choose to participate in the stock market 
• Summarize long-term trends in the stock market
• Experience why it can be difficult to predict trends in the stock market 

Students will be able to:

• Explain what stocks are and how they can make money from investing in them 
• Identify ways to minimize risk when investing in stocks 
• Read a stock quote and evaluate a stock’s performance over time 
• Understand what a stock split is and how it impacts investors who own that stock

Students will be able to:

• Explain what a bond is and the pros and cons of investing in bonds
• Understand the various factors that can influence bond prices such as interest rates
• Identify the differences between an individual bond and a bond fund
• Read a bond fund fact sheet

Students will be able to:

• Explain what risk is and its role in investing
• Analyze effective strategies to manage investment risk such as investing early, diversification, and dollar cost averaging 
• Calculate the impact of using dollar cost averaging in hypothetical scenarios and by using the real historical performance of an index fund

Students will be able to:

• Identify the differences between mutual funds, index funds, exchange-traded funds, and target date funds
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of investing in mutual funds, index funds, exchange-traded funds, and target date funds

Students will be able to:

• Identify strategies recommended for a beginner investor and explain why these strategies may be beneficial 
• Explore their own risk tolerance through a worksheet
• Experience making a variety of investment decisions through an interactive simulation  
• Understand what a brokerage account is and how to open one

Students will be able to:

• Understand what a 401(k) plan is and its advantages
• Explain the options available to them if an employer does not offer a 401(k) plan
• Conduct research to compare different types of retirement accounts, including Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and pensions

In this lesson, students will be able to: 

• Define investing and distinguish it from saving and trading
• Identify reasons for investing, including outpacing inflation
• Analyze how compounding builds wealth over time. 
• Reflect on how investing contributes to wealth inequality

In this lesson, students will be able to:

• Describe what stocks are, how you can earn profit from stocks, and the risks of investing
• Summarize long-term trends in the stock market
• Analyze the performance of individual stocks over time
• Consider how personal values may influence investing decisions

In this lesson, students will be able to:

• Explain what a bond is and the pros and cons of investing in bonds
• Understand the various factors that can influence bond prices such as interest rates
• Identify the difference between an individual bond and a bond fund
• Read a bond fund fact sheet

In this lesson, students will be able to:

• Explain what risk is and its role in investing
• Analyze effective strategies to manage investment risk
• Identify which strategies you might use to manage risk when you start investing

In this lesson, students will be able to:

• Explain the difference between active investing and passive investing
• Identify a variety of popular investment funds including mutual funds, index funds, exchange traded funds, and target date funds
• Read a fund fact sheet for an index fund and a target date fund

Students will be able to

• Arrange companies to create a diversified mutual fund or index fund
• Evaluate how the composition of a mutual fund or index fund is associated with risk and reward
• Analyze the composition of the S&P 500

In this lesson, students will be able to: 

• Discuss best practices how to prepare for the psychological elements of investing
• Determine your investor profile based on time horizon and risk tolerance
• Discuss specific investing strategies
• Understand what a brokerage account is and how to open one
• Demonstrate your understanding of investing strategies by creating a simulated portfolio

In this lesson, students will be able to: 

• Investigate how investing can be a powerful tool to meet your retirement goals 
• Explain why most Americans cannot rely on Social Security and pensions alone for retirement 
• Explore factors that can impact how much you might need in retirement and your ability to meet your retirement savings goal
• Understand the growing popularity of the F.I.R.E. movement

In this lesson, students will be able to: 

• Explain the advantages of a 401(k)
• Analyze who has access to 401(k) accounts
• Compare different types of retirement accounts, including Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and pensions
• Simulate signing up for a 401(k) or IRA account

In this lesson, students will be able to: 

• Discuss the function and growth of robo-advising, along with its relationship with human investment managers
• Explain the function, pros, and cons of micro-investing
• Identify best practices to use when evaluating a mobile investing app
• Understand the capital gains tax and how it applies to gains realized through modern investing tools
• Compare modern investing tools