Monthly Archives: February 2012

Personal Finance in the News: The Mortgage Settlement – Class Discussion and Teaching Video

Posted on February 23, 2012 by ajkeown

Teaching Tip:  Jean Chatzky has a short (3-4 minute) video from the Today show on the new “Mortgage Settlement” that summarizes what took place. In mid-February, 2012, the Justice Department announced a $25 billion settlement deal between 49 state attorneys … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 7, Consumer Loans, Ch. 8, Home and Auto | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Assignment: Financial Words of Wisdom

Posted on February 21, 2012 by ajkeown

One of the best financial blogs is “The Color of Money” by Michelle Singletary which appears every Wednesday and Saturday in the Washington Post and is syndicated in over 100 newspapers. If you’d like to see what Michelle is writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 8, Home and Auto, Ch.11, Investment Basics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Discussion and Assignment: A Look at Discretionary Spending in the United States

Posted on February 17, 2012 by ajkeown

Teaching Tip:  Mint.com has a great exercise called, “How Little Things Add Up,” that students can either do in class (if they have access to the internet) or before class.  It will give them an estimate of how much they … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 8, Home and Auto | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Assignment and Discussion: Money Lessons from the “New Girl,” Zooey Deschanel

Posted on February 15, 2012 by ajkeown

On the television series “New Girl,” Zooey Deschanel plays “Jess” Day, a cute, perky teacher who moves with three guys into an apartment she found on Craigslist after breaking up with her boyfriend.  In real life, she’s just broken up … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 2, Measuring Financial Health and Making a Plan, Ch.18, Financial Life Events | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Assignment and Discussion: Finding out a bit about yourself – Life Values Quiz

Posted on February 12, 2012 by ajkeown

Teaching Tip:  This “Life Values Quiz” can be taken in class if computer connections are available, or if not, it should be assigned as an outside the class exercise.  If not all students have computer connections, but you as the instructor … Continue reading →

Posted in 10 Principles of Personal Finance, Ch. 1, Financial Planning Process | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Discussion and Written Assignment: Help for a Recent Graduate

Posted on February 8, 2012 by ajkeown

Teaching Tip:  Chris Farrell is the economics editor for Marketplace Money, the personal finance show by American Public Media.  He also writes a column for American Public Media titled Marketplace Getting Personal.  In that column he fields questions from readers … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 2, Measuring Financial Health and Making a Plan, Ch. 7, Consumer Loans, Ch.16, Retirement Planning | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Class Discussion and Video: The Facebook IPO

Posted on February 6, 2012 by ajkeown

Teaching Tip:  Marketplace.org has a four-minute video titled, “What’s an IPO?”  It is definitely short enough that it can be shown in class or assigned as homework viewing outside of class.  Regardless of how it’s used,  it does a great … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.12, Securities Markets | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Finance in the News: Suze Orman Introduces “The Approved Card from Suze Orman” – a Prepaid Debit Card

Posted on February 1, 2012 by ajkeown

The Wall Street Journal article “Invasion of the Star-Studded Debit Cards” presents Suze Orman as the latest celebrity to introduce a prepaid debit card.   Ms. Orman follows in the steps of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and the Kardashians (although, the Kardashian … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 5, Cash Management | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment