How It Works: Beta Version
CentsCity Beta: The 70-10-10-10 Principle
The primary financial lesson presented in the CentsCity Beta is the 70-10-10-10 Principle" (i.e. the concept that money should be divided systematically between spending, saving, investing, and sharing).
This unit is comprised of five steps: a themed and animated video teaching the concept, 8 interactive quiz questions assessing the skill, an in-game challenge to open a savings account, an in-game challenge to buy an investment, and an in-world challenge to contribute to a charity. The average time required to complete the entire unit is 30 minutes of game play while the student may return for an extended period of time to make investments, contribute to charities, and interact with his/her bank account.
Specific Jump$tart standards addressed include the following:
Financial Responsibility & Decision Making
Standard 1: Take responsibility for financial decisions
- Identify ways to be a financially responsible young adult
Standard 4: Make financial decisions by systematically considering alternatives and consequences
- Apply systematic decision making to a medium-term goal
Planning and Money Management
Standards 1: Develop a plan for spending and saving.
- Describe how to allocate a weekly allowance among the financial goals of spending, saving, and sharing.
- Discuss the components of a personal budget, including income, planned saving, taxes, and fixed and variable expenses.
Standard 5: Consider charitable giving
- Determine whether charitable giving fits one's budget and, if so, how much is appropriate.
Saving & Investing
Standards 1: Discuss how saving contributes to financial well-being.
- Give examples of how saving money can improve financial well-being.
- Explain the value of an emergency fund.
Specific Jump$tart Knowledge Statements addressed include the following:
- Financial choices that people make have benefits, costs, and future consequences
- A key to financial well-being is to spend less than you earn
- People perform basic financial tasks to manage money
- A budget is a plan for using income productively, including spending, sharing, and setting money aside for future expenses
- People save for future financial goals
- Saving means setting income aside for emergencies and immediate needs. Investing means putting money to work for the future. Funds for investing often come from current income not spent.