RAINING MONEY

organicaustinrealestate.com

There are many, MANY, MAAAAANY scholarships available for you to apply for - but they are not going to come looking for you.

You will have to go and FIND them.   Money might just be raining down on you with time and effort YOU expend.   You could be greatly rewarded!   Every single dollar will help finance your education.

There are many resources and guides available on-line and in the library to assist you.   Scholarships.com is a great resource to explore offering hints and guidance on writing effective narratives and etiquette.  There are also sample essays to review.

Mrs. Garvin and Mrs. Murray will be notifying you of some of the local scholarships such as the WAO Education Foundation, the WAO Senior Scholarships, Bremer Bank, etc.     There are MORE local scholarships that she and I don't know about and you will need to do some looking as well.

LOCALLY - Check your parent's place of employment, clubs, organizations, your church, and local businesses.     Give the applications serious thought and effort and apply, apply, apply - even apply for the long shots you think you might never receive!

YOUR FUTURE COLLEGE - most offer scholarships that vary by program and eligibility.  Check the website or give the college a call.

OTHER SCHOLARSHIP SEARCHES -
Cappex
Career One Stop
Fastweb!
FinAid!
Zinch

fernandezrmarisela.wordpress.com

In Senior Seminar we will work on several drafts for several local scholarships.   You will be responsible for finalizing each scholarship on your own and submitting in a timely manner.   Mrs. Garvin and I will be very happy to proofread any drafts you bring us, but please DO NOT WAIT until the last minute to apply.   It will be physically impossible for anyone to proofread and help you craft a decent essay.

The first draft you will craft will be for the WAO Senior Scholarships.  This is one application that will apply to several local scholarships.   The 2015 form is not available yet, but the writing prompt stays fairly consistent:

SCHOLARSHIP DIRECTIONS:   In 500 words, or less, describe how you have demonstrated one or more of the following principles:

• INTEGRITY:  Being truthful and trustworthy to yourself and others.
• RESPONSIBILITY:  Conveying an attitude of commitment and conviction.
• CONCERN:  Demonstrating compassion and a caring attitude toward others while helping them achieve their best.

This essay must be typed.   In May, you will print your work and staple to the application form.  

ASSIGNMENT:   Craft your first draft, I will edit it, and you will make changes.    I promise, as you write more essays for scholarships, it will get easier.   You do not have to reinvent the wheel each time ... use what you have already crafted and tweak it.   Just be sure to cover ONLY the points addressed - review committees want you to stay focused and not blather on.  Don't be afraid to share your story, but never lie or stretch the truth!

SAVE MORE, SPEND MORE

We all love to spend money, right?    Few of us have unlimited income, therefore, people need to make decisions about what goods and services to buy in order to maximize satisfaction received from income.

Speaking of spending, how is it possible that the more we save, the more we can spend?

After the "Rule of 72" activity and the "Big Spender" activities, consider the following:

Reflect on Visual 7-3 "The Bigs Versus The Littles" which shows each family's spending over 35 years.     Look at the impact of their savings & spending choices over 35 years!

Begin a new Blog titled "Save More, Spend More" and address the following - using complete sentences, of course!

• Using the link to the above visual (also shown in class), 
• What do you notice in the 9th year?
• What do you notice about spending in year 16 between the two families?
• In year 35 which family has the higher income - and by how much?
• In year 35 which family has the larger savings account - and by how much?
• When making spending/savings decisions with a limited budget, what should consumers consider prior to spending?    
• How can a higher savings rate provide the means to spend more?
• What are your thoughts now about saving/investing for your future (marriage, children, retirement)?

ASSETS INCREASING YOUR WEALTH

whattoinvestinsingapore.net/

It is important to begin thinking about what you can invest your hard-earned money in and make your money can GROWand work for YOU.    Plan wisely and you can retire sooner than later.

Over the past few classes, we've been exploring rates of return on various assets.  




RATE OF RETURN = incoming generated by the asset during one given period.

ANNUAL RATE OF RETURN = Return/Market Value of Asset @ Beginning of the Year.

1.  Visit TEENSGOTCENTS and explore how you can become a mulit-millionaire!

2.  Create a new personal blog post titled "Become a Millionaire" and address the following:

www.canstockphoto.com

• Can the rate of return for an asset vary from year to year and if so, why?
• After playing the poker chip game - why was your overall expected rate of return 9% when our poker chips were red 4%, white 8%, and blue 12%?
• Explain what the average rate of return you can expect from your investment equates to.
• How can you use our class discussions, activity, and the information on the above web site to plan for your own retirement?    

NET WORTH & CASH FLOW

During the Inventory Game you physically moved in and out of a specific area (front of room) and noted the change in number of students in that area over time, as well as the inflow and outflow rates.

This game was to simulate your own personal assets (income) and your liabilities (bills) and their flow over different time periods.   In the game - students were cash and the front of the room was the wallet or purse.

In a new blog post titled "Net Worth & Cash Flow" discuss the following:

• Did the game help you visualize a constantly changing cash flow?
• What me some examples of cash outflow?   How does the time element play a part with these?
• What does the game suggest about how you might grow your own wealth over time?   What are key elements to do this?
• Describe what "net worth" is.
• Why would a person want their net worth to be larger - besides the obvious I have more stuff/money - think long term over your entire life and how it can assist you.

As always, use complete/topic sentences.

MAKING DECISIONS

We all make decisions each and every day - from deciding what to wear, what to eat, when to go to bed.    These decisions are small and relatively insignificant.   Other decisions are BIG and require a little more thought.

Making a good decision is not really about the actual decision, but the decision making process.   If you aren't methodical and thoughtful when making a decision, that is when you may see disastrous consequences!

Making smart decisions regarding your finances.   The following areas will soon be explored in Senior Seminar and test your decision making skills:

• choosing a car, house, Internet provider
• making a budget - how to spend your paycheck
• choosing investments (stocks, bonds, etc)
• choosing how much to save for retirement, college, buying a house
• choosing insurance coverage (risk management)

Create a new blog post titled "Making Decisions" and discuss the following in a minimum of 200 words, using complete/topic sentences:

1.  Discuss a few daily decisions you make that don't require a lot of thought.
2.  Discuss one BIG decision you've made this school year - what was it, how did you make your decision - what process did you use?   What were the results of your decision?

WEALTH

LUCK -- both with respect to initial endowment & to finding the right trading partner.







NATURAL ABILITY -- math skills to figure out which trades were beneficial and
bargaining/negotiating skills






EFFORT -- willingness to figure things out, find trades, keep playing







MOTIVATION -- desire to improve your position, win a prize,
succeed








These four factors were most important to you in the "Wealth" game.  These factors determined how much you increased your "wealth" value of your bag.

Guess what -- they will also be the exact same factors will be important in your financial life.   They are the basic determinants of wealth.

Create a new blog entry titled "WEALTH".    Summarize your experience with the game - your status at the beginning, your trading experience, and your final status.    Discuss how each of these factors played into how well you did (or didn't do) in the game.   Also relate each of these four factors in your personal life and how they currently influence/guide your financial decisions.  Also discuss how you can change your current behaviors in the future as related to your financial decisions.

Your post should be well-written with complete sentences and be no shorter than 300 words.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY !!!!

We are going to start exploring an important topic - MONEY.    Who doesn't need money everyday, in some fashion?    No one.    We all wear clothing, eat food, and live somewhere -- this all takes money.   You, a 17/18 year old student, may or may not be paying for some/all of these expenses yet, but someone is.     It is VITAL that you are prepared to deal with financial issues now and after high school.

Many of you have jobs now -- great!    If you don't - you most likely will soon.  Do you know how to spend your money wisely?

Do you pay yourself first?   What does this mean anyway???