Great mini-activity where your students get to weigh in on the value of financial education. The centerpiece of the activity comes from a Financial Feud produced by Marketplace.org.  First, have your students listen to this seven minute audio  where two experts (Helaine Olen and Dan Kadlec) weigh in on whether financial education is worth it.  Provide students with this list of questions to guide them as they take notes while listening to this audio:

• What are the primary reasons that expert provides to support their argument as to whether financial education is worth it?
• What do you think are the strongest reasons that each of them present?
• What expert do you agree with more? Why?
• Are there any points that you can think of that could support either side of the debate?
• Do you think financial education is valuable? Why or why not?

This could spur a good classroom debate, although it may be difficult to find students on the “financial education is not valuable” side of the spectrum. Enjoy!

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.