Public Protection Cabinet

As part of our educational outreach program, the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) offers several free teaching guides to high school, middle school and college educators. These resources are user-friendly and can be easily integrated into any business, math or family/consumer science class. DFI also can provide classroom speakers on financial topics for any age or grade.

 

Basics of Saving and Investing: Investor Education 2020

 

The Basics of Saving and Investing is a curriculum focused on investor education and protection. The Basics guide is divided into four units: Getting Started, Introduction to Financial Markets, Making a Financial/Investment Plan and Investment Fraud. Each unit contains learning objectives, suggested activities, overheads, handouts and worksheets. The appendix contains additional resources — including noncommercial Web sites — and a glossary of terms. 

 

DFI will mail a free copy of the Basics guide to teachers who contact Kelly May by email or phone at 800-223-2579, ext. 252. Copies can be made from the print version to hand out to the class. In addition to the print version, a PDF version is available online at http://www.investorprotection.org/teach-investing/?fa=basics.

 

You also may find these accompaniments helpful:

 

 

Invest Yourself! is an investor education program for high school students that was created by the Kentucky Council on Economic Education and the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions and funded by the Investor Protection Trust. The program goals are to educate students about the importance of developing an investment strategy early in life, introduce students to the basics of the stock market and investing, and introduce students to content from print and online media so they may continue their quest for investment knowledge. Topics include goal setting, decision making, investment products and their risks, time value of money, compounding and more. The program also includes interactive, hands-on activities to keep students engaged in the lessons. The toolkit includes instructions on presenting the program and activities, a PowerPoint with speaker notes, pre- and post-tests, worksheets and handouts. The entire toolkit is available free at www.econ.org/investyourself.

FSI: Fraud Scene Investigator 

 

FSI: Fraud Scene Investigator is an online interactive investor education program that teaches students how to detect and stop a million-dollar investment fraud and put the mysterious con man, "Mr. X," behind bars. Through this free resource, students learn how to research companies and understand the warning signs of fraudulent investment pitches. To download teacher resources or begin the program, visit the FSI page of the North American Securities Administrators Association, a securities regulator organization to which DFI belongs.

 

MoneyTrack Videos 

 

MoneyTrack is an award-winning public television series about investing that empowers real people of all income levels to become successful investors. Every week, co-hosts Pam Krueger and Jack Gallagher talk with real people who are living examples of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to investing.

 

The MoneyTrack series offers unbiased, non-commercial education. In partnership with MSN Money, select video segments of the episodes are available online. The series is distributed by American Public Television. The series is a NETworth TV Production made possible by a grant from the Investor Protection Trust with support from state securities regulators, including Kentucky DFI.

 

The video clips are appropriate for classroom viewing, such as episode 214 "Millionaire in the Making" about a high school student who built his own $50,000 investment portfolio. Another video that may inspire classroom discussion is episode 305 "Lessons from a High School Scam Artist." To view these video clips and more, visit the MoneyTrack Top Stories site and select the video you wish to watch from the list.

 

MoneyTrack Video Discussion Questions [DOC 49KB]

 

 

The ABCs of Credit Card Finance 

 

DFI has partnered with the Center for Student Credit Card Education Inc. to offer free information to students on responsible use of credit cards. This curriculum includes a free workbook for each student called “Essential Facts for Students” and also includes a “Trainer’s Guide” for the teacher. This curriculum offers information to help students learn basic money and credit card management skills. Topics cover budgeting and credit card basics, from credit card costs and selecting the best credit card to credit card dos and don’ts, credit reports and more.

 

The materials are available in PDF format that can be printed for use in the classroom at the Center for Student Credit Card Education Inc. The website also includes an interactive online lesson with quiz results that can be emailed to the instructor.