Texas Education Agency<\/a> is going to send school districts a list of companies that offer free curriculum for this project. So the new requirement won\u2019t cost much money, if any. But it will take away learning time from standardized tests.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s rare for the state of Texas to do something bold on the academic side. Usually, it\u2019s something for the football team.<\/p>\n
Curious about details<\/p>\n
I was curious how detailed these classes would be. So I rooted around and found a company, Lyfe Source of California, which offers the first semester free.<\/p>\n
Lyfe Source provided me with a sample test of 12 questions, which are listed below.<\/p>\n
Unlike the fun Watchdog quizzes I share in this space once a year, these questions are more difficult. My suggestion is, you take the test and then ask your teenager to follow suit.<\/p>\n
The 30th state<\/p>\n
Texas is the 30th state to offer financial learning. Students in the graduating class of 2029 will be the first here.<\/p>\n
What will they need to know? With the help of Lyfe Course sales director Jacob Yano, the categories we picked for our sample test are insurance, career, finances, taxes and mortgages.<\/p>\n
Why the sudden rush to create curriculum that didn\u2019t formerly exist? John Pelletier, director of the Center for Financial Literacy in Vermont, offers reasons.<\/p>\n
The economic meltdown in 2008 exposed homebuyers\u2019 misunderstanding of how credit and mortgage markets work. COVID-19 showed how unemployment levels could jump almost overnight in a once-in-a-lifetime catastrophe.<\/p>\n
He says the lack of proper money management is so severe that only half of Americans could come up with $2,000 in an emergency.<\/p>\n
He says the extra classes address what he calls \u201cfinancial fragility.\u201d High school students who understand college grants and loans apparently graduate from college with less credit debt.<\/p>\n
Is it enough?<\/p>\n
Frankly, I\u2019m impressed that they\u2019ve gone this far. The new course even has a cool name \u2013 FinLit.<\/p>\n
Investment counselor Jim Chassen of Dallas told me, \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful first step, but they could do more.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a good thing because Sears, as we know it, is closed.<\/p>\n
Take the test<\/p>\n
Answers given at conclusion. Good luck: you\u2019re gonna need it.<\/p>\n
1. What type of auto insurance coverage is typically required by law: a) comprehensive coverage, b) collision coverage, c) liability coverage, d) uninsured motorist coverage.<\/p>\n
2. What is typically covered by dwelling coverage in a homeowner\u2019s insurance policy: a) personal property inside the home, b) injuries that occur on the property, c) the structure of the home itself, d) temporary living expenses if the home is uninhabitable.<\/p>\n
3. Which font is recommended for a resume: a) Times New Roman, b) Arial, c) Comic Sans, d) Impact.<\/p>\n
4. What is the correct order for listing work experience on a resume: a) alphabetical order, b) reverse chronological order, c) based on relevance to the job, d) based on the number of years worked.<\/p>\n
5. a) How is credit card interest usually applied when a balance remains unpaid: a) It is added once a year based on total spending, b) It compounds daily on the unpaid balance, c) It is charged only on new purchases each month, d) It applies only if the balance exceeds a set limit. <\/p>\n
6. Why might investors include both stocks and bonds in a portfolio: a) to focus entirely on long-term market growth, b) to balance potential gains with overall risk, c) to eliminate the need for any cash savings account, d) to qualify for tax breaks on dividend payments.<\/p>\n
7. What factor most directly influences the interest rate of a bond: a) the stock-market performance, b) the credit rating of the issuer, c) the current inflation rate, d) the bond\u2019s maturity date.<\/p>\n
8. Which action is least likely to build a strong credit score: a) paying bills on or before each due date, b) opening multiple new cards to lower utilization, c) keeping balances under one-third of available credit. d) using older accounts to lengthen credit history.<\/p>\n
9. What is the main purpose of the W-4 form: a) summarize all income earned for the year, b) instruct employers on how much tax to withhold, c) request a refund from the IRS at tax time, d) verify the taxpayer\u2019s Social Security status.<\/p>\n
10. Which statement best defines a marginal tax rate: a) the flat percentage applied to all taxable income, b) the rate used before any deductions or credits, c) the rate that applies to the highest portion of income, d) the total rate averaged across every tax bracket.<\/p>\n
11. How long do negative items like late payments or bankruptcies typically remain on a credit report: a) 2 years, b) 5 years, c), 7\u201310 years, d) indefinitely.<\/p>\n
12. A homeowner refinances from a 30-year loan to a 15-year loan. What is the result: a) higher monthly payments but lower total interest, b) lower monthly payments but more total interest, c) equal payments with no change to total interest, d) reduced payments with a longer overall loan term.<\/p>\n
ANSWERS: 1. a), 2. c), 3. b), 4. b), 5. b), 6. b), 7. b), 8. b), 9. b), 10. c), 11. c), 12. a).<\/p>\n
Courtesy of The Lyfe Course. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maybe this happened to you. You were 18 years old, and your parents suggested you start to build…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2353,163,2349,2492,27,29,28,10322],"class_list":["post-26048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-commentary","tag-education","tag-money","tag-personal-finance","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-watchdog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}