Finding the Keys to Your Financial Success

On behalf of the Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, the Delaware Bankers Association, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Maryland and Delaware, we would like to welcome you and your student to Keys to Financial Success: An Introduction to Personal Finance.

Concerns have been raised within these organizations regarding the lack of understanding adolescents have when financial issues are being discussed. Teens in the United States earned $121 billion in 1998, but spent about $141 billion. Most of the difference came from parents. Nearly 10 million teens earned about $1.05 billion in allowances. Saving for a car is the number one goal while saving for college is number three. In a survey done by USA Weekend in 1998, 42% of teenagers think they will earn $75,000 per year by age 30. The reality is that the average annual salary for a 30- year old is $27,000. College students have become particularly vulnerable to the use of credit and are finding themselves mired in debt. Horror stories abound about crushing debt that has even forced students out of school in order to work to pay off the bills.

During this course, students will have the opportunity to learn how money makes the world go around and how they can have a smoother, happier ride if they know how to set goals for themselves, make realistic choices about their resources, and can manage their income. To help students accomplish these goals the course will focus on:

how to set goals and make decisions
how to assess and research career choices
how to access banking and other financial services
how much credit is too much credit
what saving and investing means for their lives
how to shop for what they want at the least cost
what risk protection is available to prevent financial loss

Learning these topics can help maximize their satisfaction and provide a head start in the adult world. Getting this start involves understanding themselves, setting goals, investing in their own human capital, and making plans of action to help them achieve the goals.

One of the partnership's goals for this course is to involve parents and guardians on a regular basis for discussions of the topics being covered in class. To facilitate this objective this web site has been developed in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and is available for the parents of students taking the course.

selecting colleges or other post high school training,
paying for that training,
using credit responsibly
budgeting and purchasing of goods and services
helping with retirement planning.

We look forward to your involvement and suggestions on what we can do to improve the course. An email link is provided to connect you directly to your student's Keys teacher. Please contact me at the Center with any input you have.