Show Me the Money!

By the end of this presentation, I will be able to… Make a budget using salaries for one of the following careers: medical assistant, electrical line worker and cybersecurity professional

Agenda Let’s Talk Money! Job Profiles Budget Activity Closing: Group Discussion Verbally let students know what the time limit will be for each item as you share the agenda. See facilitation guide for time suggestions.

Let’s talk money! What is a salary? What is a budget? What sorts of things do you need money for in life? Read aloud the following questions to the group. Have them discuss their answers with a partner. After 3 minutes, bring the class together and identify 1 student to share the answer. Use the details below to add to student answers. What is a salary? Salary: All the paychecks you receive in a year (before taxes, etc.) What is a budget? Budget: A way of keeping track of the money you in earn in a month (or year), along with expenses What sorts of things do you need money for in life? Brainstorm with students a list of things you need money for and list them on a whiteboard or poster paper. Be sure to include rent, transportation (car, bus pass, bike), utilities (phone, internet, cable, water, electricity), food and fun. Use budget worksheet for things to be sure to include. Make sure to tell students that today we’ll be working with a simplified version of costs, but enough to get started with thinking about what type of career and lifestyle you want and how to make it happen!

Job Profiles Pick the job profile that you’re most interested in: Medical assistant Electrical line worker Cybersecurity professional Hand out the 3 job profiles to students and review the highlights for each job profile including: industry, salary and education requirements. Give students a few minutes to study them. Let them know they’ll need to pick 1 job profile that interests them the most for the budget activity.

Discussion: Job Profiles Which job profile are you most interested in and why? What did you learn about the career you chose? What education is required? What was the starting salary? What skills are required? What is the job like? What would you be doing? The job profiles were selected to represent various industries, education requirements and salary. Have students discuss which job is more appealing to them and why. The specific job profile they pick doesn’t matter; this is an opportunity to experiment and explore, not a commitment! Tell students to consider the education required, starting salary, required skills, and what the job is like (i.e., what would they be doing).

Budget Worksheet Answer questions 1-4 Fill in the job profile you chose and the annual salary Calculate the monthly pay (divide your annual salary by 12 months) Calculate the take-home pay after taxes A. Calculate 30% of your salary (0.30 x salary = ) B. Subtract your answer (A) from the monthly salary Hand out the budget worksheet and have students complete questions 1-4. Consider checking their work before giving them permission to start their research on the internet.

Budget Worksheet: Research Research costs of an apartment, utilities, cell phone, etc. and complete your budget worksheet. Decide if this salary will match the budget you created. Set expectations for researching on the internet. Craigslist is a great resource for determining the costs of apartments. It might help to provide them with numbers for utilities (you can use your own utilities as an estimate). Let them know that this is a simplified version of a budget to fit in the time available. Encourage them to think outside the box about living arrangements and transportation options. Encourage them to experiment and see how experimenting changes the bottom line of the budget.

How can I start budgeting now? It’s never too soon to start saving money! If you have a job or are planning to get one for the summer, use the 50/20/30 budget plan and save 20% of your paycheck. Use the following script to collect student responses for a think-aloud. Do the math on a whiteboard or poster to show students how much the estimated paycheck will be for and how much students should be able to save from that paycheck. Let’s say you have a summer job in that pays the state’s minimum wage of $11 per hour and you’re able to work 20 hours a week. You receive a paycheck every two weeks. What is the estimate for how much you’d receive on your paycheck before taxes? Do the math on a whiteboard or poster to show students how much their estimated paycheck would be. If your estimated paycheck is for $440 and you want to save 20% of it, how much money should you be putting aside for savings every 2 weeks? What are other expenses you should consider when budgeting? If you stick to your goal of saving 20% of each paycheck, how much would you have in your savings after 1 month? 2 months? 3 months?

Closing: Group Discussion What surprised you from this presentation? What other information would you like to know? What could you change to make your budget work better? Take a career test and research the careers you’re matched with: http://careerbridge.wa.gov/ Group discussion: ask students what surprised them or what else they would like to know (alternative: a simple exit ticket where they write answer to the same question)