Standards for Financial Institutions and Services

Standard: 14

Name: Banks, Interest Rates, and Financial Markets

Banks connect savers and borrowers by accepting deposits and making loans, with the interest rate serving as the price of money borrowed or saved. Businesses can also obtain funds by issuing debt or selling ownership shares in the company.

• K-5: At the elementary school level, students learn about the role of banks and interest.
• 6-8: Middle school students understand what a bank does with the money people deposit and how interest rates are determined by markets.
• 9-12: High school students learn about financial markets, including stock and bond markets. The concept of real interest rate is introduced, as is how interest rates impact lenders and borrowers.Benchmark Students will know that: Students will use this knowledge to: 14.E.1 Banks are businesses where people save money and earn interest, and where people borrow money and pay interest.Role-play bankers taking in deposits from customers who earn interest and other customers taking out loans and paying interest.E: ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

Name: Investing

Standard: 4

• Students will understand that: People can choose to invest some of their money in financial assets to achieve long-term financial goals, such as buying a house, funding future education, or securing retirement income. Investors receive a return on their investment in the form of income and/or growth in value of their investment over time. People can more easily achieve their financial goals by investing steadily over many years, reinvesting dividends, and capital gains to compound their returns. Investors have many choices of investments that differ in expected rates of return and risk. Riskier investments tend to earn higher long-run rates of return than lower-risk investments. Investors select investments that are consistent with their risk tolerance, and they diversify across a number of different investment choices to reduce investment risk.

Name: Saving

Standard: 3

• Students will understand that: People who have sufficient income can choose to save some of it for future uses such as emergencies or later purchases. Savings decisions depend on individual preferences and circumstances. Funds needed for transactions, bill-paying, or purchases, are commonly held in federally insured checking or savings accounts at financial institutions because these accounts offer easy access to their money and low risk. Interest rates, fees, and other account features vary by type of account and between financial institutions, with higher rates resulting in greater compound interest earned by savers.

Name: Spending

Standard: 2

• Students will understand that: A budget is a plan for allocating a person’s spendable income to necessary and desired goods and services. When there is sufficient money in their budget, people may decide to give money to others, save, or invest to achieve future goals. People can often improve their financial wellbeing by making well-informed spending decisions, which includes critical evaluation of price, quality, product information, and method of payment. Individual spending decisions may be influenced by financial constraints, personal preferences, unique needs, peers, and advertising.