Personal Finance Topics & Grade Bands

Instruction in personal finance will be developmentally aligned across grade bands. The required topics include: 

• Budgeting and money management: The understanding of how to allocate one’s financial resources to meet life goals. 
• Credit and debt management: The understanding of the role of credit in personal finance and how to avoid potential pitfalls of debt. 
• Earning income: The understanding of how income is earned and how taxes impact the money that is taken home.  
• Risk management: The understanding that risks are a part of life and strategies to manage that risk, including insurance policies 
• Saving and investing: The understanding of the role of putting money aside to plan for longer-term expenditures. 

To support instructional planning, the Department will develop grade band objectives that reflect a coherent and developmentally appropriate progression of learning in personal finance education. These objectives will assist educators in designing instruction that builds across elementary, middle, and high school levels. Additional information regarding the grade band objectives is forthcoming.