International High School Programs
 

MMBiz: My Money Business -  Program Summary

MMBiz is a program for secondary school students to help them learn how to manage their financial lives in a responsible way.  The program will help them develop the ability to analyze their motivations about the uses of money and establish good financial habits which can carry over into their adult lives. The global sponsor of MMBiz is the American Express Foundation.

Each unit of MMBiz includes class discussion based on the text, and research assignments that students conduct in their own communities, individually, and in teams.

The basic program does not have to be modified to suit different countries because the information provided is basic to all financial thinking. Country-specific information is gathered by the students in their own research. 

Our goal is to make this program easy to use for both instructors and students, to have a program that develops skills and provides a stimulating and enjoyable learning experience. We welcome your suggestions and feedback at every stage as you go through this program.

If you have questions, you can contact your local Junior Achievement/Young Enterprise Office or

Nancy Needham, nn@icgs.com or (215) 546-1541, Global Travel and Tourism Partnership: http://www.gttp.org.

The program format consists of:

• An Instructor’s Guide which provides suggested teaching plans.
• A Student Guide which contains seven units, each of which take two to three class sessions to complete:
  
  Unit 1       Unit 5     
  Unit 2       Unit 6
  Unit 3       Unit 7
  Unit 4     
            
             
• A Resource Guide which includes vocabulary, background information on topics like inflation, and information on how to conduct research, including how  to collect country specific material.

The program units build on each other, and require an estimated  18-20 classroom sessions, depending on the age of the class and their experience. The program can be taught in one semester or stretched out over a longer period.

MMBiz Student Guide

The objectives for each of the 7 units in the Student Guide are summarized below:

Unit 1: Spending & Budgeting

To help you see that:

1. Decisions about money are highly personal and depend on your own values, and

2. To provide some ideas about how  to organize your buying in terms of cost and timing.


Unit 2: Savings

To show that:

1. Money can grow over time when it is invested because it can earn interest or a “return.”

2. Things that appear to be out of reach today can be obtained in the future if you save and invest wisely.


Unit 3: Investing

1. To provide an overview of the wide range of available investment choices:

• Lending money
• Investing in other people’s businesses (common stock)
• Starting your own businesses
• Investing in real estate
• Investing through financial institutions

2. To help you determine how your personal investment choices will be affected by:

• Your investment goals
• The kinds of risks you are willing to take

3. To alert you to the motivations of people who want to sell you investments


Unit 4: Borrowing 

To inform you about:

1. The wide range of available sources for borrowing that will let you buy expensive items earlier than you could if you had to save the money first

2. The potential dangers of borrowing.


Unit 5: Insurance

1. To discuss how insurance fits into financial planning.

2. To explain the basic kinds of insurance.
 

Unit 6: Transacting

1. To demonstrate the various ways you can make transactions:

• Barter
• Cash
• Paper substitutes for cash (checks, traveller’s cheques, Giro payments)
• Plastic Substitutes for cash (charge cards, credit cards, debit cards, ATM cards, Stored Value Cards)
• Electronic substitutes for cash (wire transfers, electronic payments)

2. And to assess the benefits and drawbacks of these methods.


Unit 7: Designing My Life Strategy

1. To bring together all of the financial planning concepts  --- saving, budgeting, investing, borrowing, transacting and knowing where to find information – and show how they can be applied to help you achieve your dreams for the future.

2. To help you begin to design your own life strategy.

This final unit requires the student to apply what he or she has learned to a personal financial plan which can serve as the basis for their education and career planning as well.  Successful completion of the plan entitles the student to a certificate of completion.

Resource Guide

The Resource Guide contains vocabulary, background information on topics such as inflation and information designed to help you:

1. Understand how to find out information from printed sources and interviews

2. Get into the habit of keeping up with financial and economic news

3. Get in the habit of gathering information before making a big financial decision

4. To be critical of undocumented claims and to beware of scams and promises of big profits and easy money.

To learn more about receiving this program in your area, contact your local JA office.