4-H Build a Million Club is a curriculum and website designed to educate middle and high school-aged youth on investing, budgeting, using credit cards, stocks and other aspects. of personal finance. The program combines guidance for club leaders with Web tools for youth.

1. 4-H BUILD A MILLION
By Fahzy Abdul Rahman
Family Resource Management Extension Specialist
New Mexico State University

2. ECONOMIC EDUCATION - 2011
NM: High School course required to be taken

3. PERSONAL FINANCE- 2011
NM: Not even included in the K-12 Standard

4. Surveys on Teachers ….
• Teachers recognized the importance of teaching personal
finance but few have had formal preparation (Way &
Holden, 2009)
• 89% of teachers agreed or strongly agreed: Students should be
required to take a financial literacy course or pass a literacy test for
high school graduation
• Few teachers are teaching financial topics (29.7%)
• K-12 teachers are acquiring very little formal education
• only 37% of teachers had taken a related college course (ever)
• only 18.9% had taken a personal finance workshop (last 3 years)
• only 11.6% had taken a workshop on teaching personal finance (last 3
years)

5. New
Economic
Reality?

6. Characteristics of the “New Normal”
An extended period of:-
• Slow U.S. economic growth: GDP growth < 2%
• Low single-digit average annual stock returns
• Stubbornly high unemployment levels: 7.8% (14.7%?)
• Precarious job security (public and private sector)
• Youth, <25: 53% jobless or underemployed
• College debt --- Next financial crisis wave. Averages at $26,500
• March 2012: College Debt > Auto Loans and Credit Card
• Tightened credit standards
• Declining asset values (e.g., housing)
• Increased precautionary household savings and debt
repayment
• Decreased household spending

7. Introducing the 4-H Build a Million
Curriculum
• Youth Investing Education Curriculum
• Two Major Components
• Educator/Volunteer Curriculum
• Youth Website
• In the website: Tools, interactive games and activities
• to show them how to save money and discover the basics of investing
• Targeted for High School Aged Students
• School or Club Based Instruction
• Supplement or stand alone program
• Combine with other 4-H program – E.g. Goal-setting; Budgeting
• It’s Free!!!

8. History of the Project
• Funded by FINRA Investor Education Foundation
• Started as a grant to University of Kentucky – Dr. Robert
Flashman
• In cooperation with Michigan State University, University of
Tennessee and Virginia Tech University
• June of 2010- Grant was awarded to Michigan 4-H
Foundation (Erica Tobe, former Program Leader, Michigan
State University Extension, hired as consultant for the
project)

10. Curriculum Development Process:
Review and Pilot Stages
(Educator/Volunteer Guide)
• Original Project Team developed the Curriculum
• Reviewed by Dr. Celia Hayhoe (Virginia Tech) and Dr.
Dena Wise (Tennessee) and a team of 4-H educators
from MSU Extension
• Piloted with 11 community sites in Michigan (each unit
piloted at least three times)
• 4-H Clubs
• Schools
• Financial Professionals
• Material was revised by project consultant and edited by
MSU ANR Communications staff

11. How is the Educators Guide/Volunteer
Curriculum laid out?
• Made up of six units comprising 16 lessons
• Focus is on Investing education…
• All but Unit 3 are designed to be completed in one hour
• It is recommended that the lessons be completed in the
order that they are listed in the curriculum
• More advanced groups can skip a lesson if they are
already competent in the material

12. Units and Lessons
• Unit 1: Do You Have What it • Unit 4: It’s All About Risk … 121
Takes to be a Millionaire? … 7 • Lesson 12: Personal and Investment
• Lesson 1: Picture Your Success Risk
• Lesson 2: Making Choices • Lesson 13: Understanding Business
• Lesson 3: Do you Want to be a and Economic Risk
Millionaire?
• Unit 2: Learning the Basics … 35 • Unit 5: Economy and Investing
• Lesson 4: Budgeting Your Money … 135
• Lesson 5: Credit Cards 101 • Lesson 14: Investment Allocation
• Lesson 6: Investing Your Money
Decisions
• Lesson 15: How is Our Economy
• Lesson 7: Saving Early
Doing?
• Unit 3: Investment Basics … 75 • Unit 6: Putting it All Together
• Lesson 8: Cash and Cash Equivalents and Next Steps … 153
• Lesson 9: Understanding and Investing • Lesson 16: As You Start Your Journey
in the Stock Market
• Lesson 10: Bonds Basics
• Lesson 11: Understanding Mutual
Funds

13. Core Components of the Program
• Instructor key concepts
• Quick overview handouts
• Icebreakers
• Discussion questions
• Web resources

14. Core Components of the Program
Each unit begins by providing the following information:
• Learning objectives
• Time
• Materials needed
• Lesson plan overview

15. Unit One: Do you have what it takes to be
a Millionaire?
• Lesson 1: Picture Your Success
• Explore the concept of goals.
• Differentiate between short, intermediate and long-term goals.
• Outline the various types of goals.
• Practice goal-setting techniques.

16. Unit One: Do you have what it takes to be
a Millionaire?
• Lesson 2: Making Choices
• Review the decision-making process.
• Illustrate the concept of opportunity cost.
• Help youth distinguish between wants and needs.
• Lesson 3: Do You Want to be a Millionaire?
• Familiarize youth with the characteristics of American millionaires.
• Demonstrate the advantages of making wise financial decisions.

17. Unit Two: Learning the Basics
• Lesson 4: Budgeting Your Money
• Familiarize youth with key concepts such as budgeting and saving.
• Provide youth with an opportunity to complete a budget utilizing the
“Spartan Dollar$ and Cents” simulation.
• Lesson 5: Credit Cards 101
• Familiarize youth with credit card terminology.
• Provide basic information about credit card usage.
• Discuss using credit responsibly.
• Explain how to read and understand credit card statements and
agreements.

18. Unit Two: Learning the Basics
• Lesson 6: Investing Your Money
• Familiarize youth with key concepts such as:
• Investments and Investing
• Return on investments
• Compounding
• Lesson 7: Saving Early
• Introduce youth to the benefits of beginning to invest early.
• Demonstrate the value of compound interest.

19. Unit Three: Investment Basics
• Lesson 8: Cash and Cash Equivalents
• Familiarize youth with various cash and cash equivalent accounts
available at local financial institutions.
• Provide youth with practice calculating returns and making
investment choices based on goals and timelines.
• Lesson 9: Understanding and Investigating the Stock
Market
• Provide youth with a basic understanding of the stock market.
• Familiarize youth with the general terminology associated with
stocks, types of stocks, and the stock market.
• Familiarize youth with the process of buying and selling stocks.

20. Unit Three: Investment Basics
• Lesson 10: Bond Basics
• Provide youth with a basic understanding of bonds.
• Provide youth with an understanding of how market interest rates
affect the selling price of bonds.
• Illustrate to youth a simple method of calculating the yield (rate of
return) of bonds and the relationship between selling price and
yield.
• Lesson 11: Understanding Mutual Funds
• Provide youth with a basic understanding of mutual funds.
• Educate youth on how to evaluate and select a mutual fund.
• Educate youth on how to compare mutual funds.

21. Unit Four: It’s All About Risk…
• Lesson 12: Personal and Investment Risk
• Introduce youth to the concept of risk.
• Have youth consider their personal risk tolerance.
• Provide youth with an understanding of the risks associated with
various investment vehicles.
• Lesson 13: Understanding Business and Economic Risk
• Provide youth with an understanding of the risks of investing
• Provide youth with the ability to distinguish between business and
economic risks.

22. Unit Five: Economy and Investing
• Lesson 14: Investment Allocation Decisions
• Encourage youth to think about how to allocate their investments.
• Familiarize youth with the concepts of time and the importance of
goals in the decision-making process.

23. Unit Five: Economy and Investing
• Lesson 15: How is Our Economy Doing?
• Teach youth to identify and think about key factors in our economy.
• Explain that these factors should influence investment allocation
decisions and investment choices.

24. Unit Six: Putting It All Together and Next
Steps
• Lesson 16: As You Start Your Journey...
• Review with youth the “Picture Your Success” activity from Unit 1.
• Have the youth explore their investing plans for the future.
• Review the overall curriculum and discuss next steps for continuing
education.

26. Let’s Explore…
Where to Access the Materials? :::
• http://campus.extension.org/file.php/498/Millionaires%20F
inal/Index.html
OR
• Internet Search: “4-H Build a Million”
• http://www.extension.org/pages/61531/4-h-build-a-million

27. 4-H BUILD A MILLION
By Fahzy Abdul Rahman
Family Resource Management Extension Specialist
New Mexico State University
fahzy@nmsu.edu; 575-646-2253