Personal Management Merit Badge: Budgeting and Saving, Slides of Literature

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PERSONAL

MANAGEMENT

STEM-Based

PERSONAL

MANAGEMENT

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

MERIT BADGE SERIES

“Enhancing our youths’ competitive edge through merit badges”

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(c) Your thoughts when you buy something new and your thoughts about the same item three months later. Explain the concept of buyer’s remorse. (d) How hunger affects you when shopping for food items (snacks, groceries). (e) Your experience of an item you have purchased after seeing or hearing advertisements for it. Did the item work as well as advertised? (f) Your understanding of what happens when you put money into a savings account. (g) Charitable giving. Explain its purpose and your thoughts about it. (h) What you can do to better manage your money.

4. Explain the following to your merit badge counselor:

(a) The differences between saving and investing, including reasons for using one over the other. (b) The concepts of return on investment and risk and how they are related. (c) The concepts of simple interest and compound interest. (d) The concept of diversification in investing. (e) Why it is important to save and invest for retirement.

5. Explain to your merit badge counselor what the following investments are and how each works: (a) Common stocks (b) Mutual funds (c) Life insurance (d) A certificate of deposit (CD) (e) A savings account (f) A U.S. savings bond
6. Explain to your counselor why people might purchase the following types of insurance and how they work: (a) Automobile (b) Health (c) Homeowner’s/renter’s (d) Whole life and term life
7. Explain to your merit badge counselor the following:

(a) What a loan is, what interest is, and how the annual percentage rate (APR) measures the true cost of a loan. (b) The different ways to borrow money. (c) The differences between a charge card, debit card, and credit card. What are the costs and pitfalls of using these financial tools? Explain why it is unwise to make only the minimum payment on your credit card.

*Always be sure to have proper permission before using the internet. To learn about appropriate behavior and etiquette while online, consider earning the BSA Cyber Chip. Go to www.scouting.org/training/youth-protection/cyber-chip/ for more information.

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(d) Credit reports and how personal responsibility can affect your credit report. (e) Ways to reduce or eliminate debt.

8. Demonstrate to your merit badge counselor your understanding of time management by doing the following: (a) Write a “to do” list of tasks or activities, such as homework assignments, chores, and personal projects, that must be done in the coming week. List these in order of importance to you. (b) Make a seven-day calendar or schedule. Put in your set activities, such as school classes, sports practices or games, jobs or chores, and/or Scout or place of worship or club meetings, then plan when you will do all the tasks from your “to do” list between your set activities. (c) Follow the one-week schedule you planned. Keep a daily diary or journal during each of the seven days of this week’s activities, writing down when you completed each of the tasks on your “to do” list compared to when you scheduled them. (d) With your merit badge counselor, review your “to do” list, one-week schedule, and diary/journal to understand when your schedule worked and when it did not work. Discuss what you might do differently the next time.
9. Prepare a written project plan demonstrating the steps below, including the desired outcome. This is a project on paper, not a real-life project. Examples could include planning a camping trip, developing a community service project or a school or religious event, or creating an annual patrol plan with additional activities not already included in the troop annual plan. Discuss your completed project plan with your merit badge counselor. (a) Define the project. What is your goal? (b) Develop a timeline for your project that shows the steps you must take from beginning to completion. (c) Describe your project. (d) Develop a list of resources. Identify how these resources will help you achieve your goal. (e) Develop a budget for your project.
10. Do the following:

(a) Choose a career you might want to enter after high school or college graduation. Discuss with your counselor the needed qualifications, education, skills, and experience. (b) Explain to your counselor what the associated costs might be to pursue this career, such as tuition, school or training supplies, and room and board. Explain how you could prepare for these costs and how you might make up for any shortfall.

PERSONAL MANAGEMENT 63

.Personal Management Resources

Organizations and Websites

Affordable Colleges Foundation Website: http://www. affordablecollegesonline.org/financial- aid/financial-aid-for-online-colleges

Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor Website: http://www.bls.gov

Center for Student Credit Card Education Inc. Telephone: 650-347- Website: http://www.cscce.com

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Website: http://www. consumerfinance.gov

Federal Student Aid Website: http://www.studentaid.gov

Federal Trade Commission Consumer Information Website: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/

Independent Living Resources Website: http://www.ilrinc.com

The Motley Fool Website: http://www.fool.com/ familyfool/welcome.htm

National Association of Investors Corporation Toll-free telephone: 877-275- Website: http://www.better-investing.org

National Endowment for Financial Education® Telephone: 303-741- Websites: http://www.nefe.org http://www.smartaboutmoney.org http://www.hsfpp.org http://www.onyourown.org

The SmartStudent™ Guide to Financial Aid Telephone: 724-538- Website: http://www.finaid.org Students.gov Website: http://www.students.gov U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid on the Web Telephone: 319-337- Toll-free telephone: 800-433- Website: http://studentaid.ed.gov YoungBiz.com Website: http://www.youngbiz.com

Acknowledgements The Boy Scouts of America extends thanks to Eagle Scout Brent A. Neiser, CFP, senior director of Strategic Program and Alliances at the Denver-based National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®). Mr. Neiser wrote the 1996 edition of the Personal Management merit badge pamphlet upon which this edition is based. He was instrumental in this revision. NEFE® inspires empowered financial decision making for individuals and families through every stage of life. NEFE® is a private, nonprofit, non- partisan, and noncommercial foundation. The NEFE® website has many tools for planning your college education and future. Visit www.nefe.org.