“Financial education needs to become a part of our national curriculum and scoring systems so that it’s not just the rich kids that learn about money It’s all of us.”
- David L. Bach Author, Entrepreneur
Executive Prep Academy’s finance program will consist of several elements: basic finance principles, personal banking, investment banking, and corporate finance. Upon enrollment, students will be introduced to the world of finance through establishing a checking and savings account with our official financial literacy partner. Workshops provided by our financial partner will introduce students to personal banking and money management via their brand, establishing an early bond and emotional tie with these future account holders. Also, financial advisors and leaders in the financial industry will be invited throughout the year, to give workshops in person or via Skype, to give students support and underscore the importance of financial literacy.
Students will contribute to their accounts via earnings from working in the convenience store, music studio, internships, and through actual investment banking opportunities. After the initial deposit into their savings account, students will not be able to make withdrawals from the savings account until graduation, to instill the important habits of saving. Students shall make contributions to their savings and will ultimately be rewarded, through our program in which our Financial Partner will match the savings amount upon graduation.
EPA Finance Academy Curriculum
Lesson One: Making Decisions
This first lesson will take the consumer through a discussion around the process of making a decision. What steps to take as well as the different factors that can influence a decision like: values, peers, habits etc. We will also discuss economic influences and risks associated with decision making.
Lesson Two: Making Money
This lesson covers the career planning process, preparing for a job interview, understanding employee benefits, and reading and interpreting pay stubs.
Lesson Three: The Art of Budgeting
This lesson covers the budgeting process, goal setting guidelines, and setting up and maintaining a budget.
Lesson Four: Living on Your Own
This lesson covers topics such as the costs of moving, budgeting to move, a lease agreement, and rights and responsibilities of tenants.
Lesson Five: Buying a Home
This lesson deals with these aspects of home buying: the process, qualifying for a mortgage, types of mortgages, closing costs, and selling your home.
Lesson Six: Banking Services
The first part of this lesson discusses high-cost financial services of which to beware including pawnshops, rent-to-own programs, check-cashing services, and check-deferral services. The second part of this lesson covers checking accounts and how to operate them.
Lesson Seven: Credit
This lesson covers the advantages and disadvantages of using credit as well as an individual’s responsibilities and rights regarding the use of credit.
Lesson Eight: Credit Cards
This lesson discusses shopping for a credit card, calculating finance charges, how to compare credit cards, reading a statement, and credit card “dos” and “don’ts.”
Lesson Nine: Cars and Loans
This lesson covers the cost of owning and operating a motor vehicle, how much can you afford, and different aspects of the decision making process.
Lesson Ten: The Influence of Advertising
This lesson covers commonly used advertising and sales techniques, unethical techniques, and rules for evaluating advertisements.
Lesson Eleven: Consumer Awareness
This lesson discusses topics such as deciding to buy, comparative shopping, the real cost of a garment, buying clubs, layaway plans, and other topics of interest for the buying public.
Lesson Twelve: Saving and Investing
This lesson covers paying yourself first, types of savings accounts, how interest is calculated, the rule of 72, various types of investments, and avoiding investment fraud.
Lesson Thirteen: In Trouble
This lesson discusses the warning signs of financial trouble, first steps to take if you can ‘t pay your bills, credit counseling and consolidation, repossession, and bankruptcy.
Lesson Fourteen: Consumer Privacy
This lesson covers privacy and information, public vs. private, amending or correcting records, and protecting your privacy.
