July 10, 2023

Today’s Lesson
file:///Users/teacher/Downloads/Lesson%20on%20Opportunity%20Recognition,%20Invention%20vs.%20Innovation.pdf

or

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d3CCQUa1-JGn22rKYPNOHd9XG2KjH1U1b4yXZpLzg5Y/edit

Resources for Personal Finance and IB Business Management

For Personal Finance Students:

Great Infographic on Investing

3 Great Charts on Investing Over Time

How the stock market works

What are stocks and bonds?

The Power of Diversification

What is a Mutual Fund?

How to Start Investing (Infographic)

Blogs for Personal Finance

Bogleheads on Investing!

For IB Business Seniors (2nd Year IB Business Management)

For IB Juniors (1st Year IB Business Management)

Intro to Cash Flow Forecast

June 2022

It’s the end of our school year! Here are some opportunities to consider and games to play. Most importantly, have a safe and fun summer.

New IB Seniors will have Internal Assessment resources posted here.
For starters, here is How To Structure The HL IA

Here is How To Structure The SL IA

From the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), here are sample Internal Assessments, both SL and HL, and their mark schemes (grading). Scroll to the bottom of this website to access the sample Internal Assessments.

Here are more tips for success in IB Business Management.

Here is more help for the HL IA.

Here is more help for the SL IA.

Opportunities
Interested in International Affairs? Join the University of Pennsylvania’s Model OAS Program. It’s like Model UN with a focus on Central American countries and issues. You can find more information on the Model OAS Program by clicking here.
NOTE: The deadline to apply is June 10.

Philly needs lifeguards at many city pools. Earn $560 per week as a lifeguard, click here for the application process.

Take summer courses at Tufts University! Click here for more information.

Free Online Courses from Top Universities are available at Coursera.org.

Games
Click here for a very short game that tests your investing skills

Into business? Try these business-related games at Cool Math.

HoodaMath has tons of game too!

Play Financial Football!

Practice balancing your checkbook here.

Simple activity: When will you be a millionaire?

Here are numerous games and activities.

Bodine favorite: https://buildyourstax.com/

Credit Clash will test your knowledge of credit.

Imagine you’ve lost your job, your home, and you’re down to your last $1,000. Can you make it through the month? Try Playspent.org

Do you have what it takes to be an Uber Driver? Play The Uber Game.

Puzzles, Geography games, Paint games, Math games and Science games all exist at https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/

Here is the Ultimate Map Quiz and Activity Website.

GeoGuessr is fun and will surely test your geography skills but you will need to create an account with your email address.

More Geography quizzes are available here.

Help feed the world and test your vocabulary at Freerice.com.

Coding Sites

Wanna try some coding? It’s fun! Start at https://code.org/

Tynker.com is another great place to start learning how to code.

Codecombat.com is a fun site to learn python and javascript.

https://www.codecademy.com/ is another great website to learn coding skills.

College Research Sites
College Scorecard is one of my favorites for researching colleges due to the breadth and depth of the data they offer.

Here is KhanAcademy videos on Personal Finance topics.

Interactive Websites for Students

Which jobs align with my interests? Go to CareerOneStop.org and take the short assessment to see which careers match your interests.

Think you can beat the stock market? Click here to play a game to see if you can “Beat the Market.”

Here is a Complete Guide to Checking Accounts.

October 8, 2021

Personal Finance
For today’s warm up, try playing Learn Play Invest
Today we will be completing Moneyskill Module 2.
About Module 2: In Andrew’s Simulation, we will watch Andrew’s lifetime plan take shape in the form of a simulation that can be “test-flown” on a computer. The advantage of doing a simulation is that it can be redone if it doesn’t work out without suffering the real-life consequences of making bad financial decisions.

In this module, you will learn:
That you can have it all, just not all at once.
How to project your future income.
How to project your future expenses.
How to read and interpret a lifetime planning graph.

After Moneyskill I will pass out usernames and passwords for our Stock Market Competition.

October 1, 2021

For Personal Finance Classes, when you finish Moneyskill today, please try one of the games below.

Visa’s Financial Football

All students, here are games for Personal Finance:
Play Financial Football
Most popular:
Consumer Jungle
Gen-I-Revolution
Bank It or Bust
More games (Refund Rush, Farm Blitz, Celebrity Calamity and Groove Nation).
Money Metropolis
Many, many games and activities for students!
Here is a link from the National Education Association with tons of resources and games for learning financial literacy.
Here are more links to games and activities from Educational World.
Try Dollar A Glass Lemonade.

Starbanks Adventure: This is now an app for your phone, see https://www.moneyconfidentkids.com/content/mck/star-banks-adventure-game.html

Here is another link to a new website featuring more Personal Finance Games.

September 30, 2021

Morning Brew
If interested in a free subscription, Click Here.

Click here to help you understand your own financial personality.

Do you have what it takes to be an Uber driver? Click here to play the Uber Game

All of NextGen’s Arcade Games are posted here.

What will your future lifestyle look like? Click here to find out!

For IB Business Management
Students will choose an article from this website (Morning Brew on Marketing).

September 20, 2021

Here are important resources and key topics from last week’s lessons.

Personal Finance
Investing Infographic
This website is great for learning the basics of investing and it offers a great comparison of Saving versus Investing.
Video on Compound Interest
This video explains the important concept of Compound Interest.
Here is the Retirement Calculator we used in class.
Please make sure to turn in completed Student Activity Packets.
Today we will be analyzing the charts within this ANALYZE activity.
Today’s Question of the Day is about this Mexican-American entrepreneur who is helping people learn about personal finance.

IB Business Management Juniors
Key Topics:
Role of Business
Main Functions of Business
Business Sectors
The Role of Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship
Reasons for Starting Up a Business
Steps in the Process of Starting Up a Business
Problems a New Business May Face
The Elements of a Business Plan
CUEGIS Concepts

IB Business Management Seniors
Investment Appraisal
1. Payback Period
2. Average Rate of Return (ARR)
Net Present Value
The Importance of Budgets (Personal Budgets and Budgets in Business)

September 9, 2021

Join us tonight: Investment Seminar from Bridges to Wealth
Tomorrow, September 9th, 2021 at 6:00 PM.
Register at bit.ly/B2Winvest This event is for the whole Bodine community!

Today is a Regular Thursday Schedule.

IB Juniors and Seniors
-In today’s lesson, you will learn to:
-Experience cognitive biases through thought experiments
-Identify various cognitive biases
-Give examples of cognitive biases in your own life
-Explain what cognitive bias is and how it can impact our decision making
Your Student Activity Packet is in Google Classroom.
Student Activity Packets are due today.

Personal Finance
-In today’s lesson, you will learn to:
-Experience cognitive biases through thought experiments
-Identify various cognitive biases
-Give examples of cognitive biases in your own life
-Explain what cognitive bias is and how it can impact our decision making
Your Student Activity Packet is in Google Classroom.
Student Activity Packets are due today.

Today’s article: 7 Psychological Triggers That Cause Spending – How to Deal With Them

During the month of April, I decided to go on a “shopping diet” – so for the entire month, I didn’t buy a stitch of clothing. While this might seem like a cinch for some of you, for shopaholics like me, it was a huge wake-up call. Not only did I save a ton of money, but I was also able to see how often I shopped as a reaction to outside stimulus. Bad day at work? I had the urge to shop. Worried that I might miss a sale? I had the urge to shop. Bored? Oh yeah, I definitely got the urge to shop.

Shopping can be a deeply psychological experience, and you probably have shopping triggers that give you that itchy credit card finger long before you ever step into a mall. Let’s face it: When you’re a psychological spender, you know you’ll buy something before you even enter a store. Spending to fill a void or to achieve certain feelings can seriously bust your personal budget and cause you to buy things that you don’t even need.

Psychological Triggers of Spending
After my month without shopping, I had a lighter closet, but also a greater awareness for my own shopping triggers. Knowing what drives me to spend means I’m more mindful of the phenomenon occurring in the future, and can combat boredom with something other than a trip to the shoe store. Check out some of the most common psychological triggers for shopping, and see if any ring true with your own spending style:

1. Shopper’s High
They say that after running, you get a runner’s high – I’m definitely not a runner, so I’ve never experienced this. It’s attributed to the release of dopamine that occurs after you’re done with your run. But for those who love to shop, the same high can be attained through the actual act of buying.

Consider these stats: According to data gathered by Harris Interactive, 31% of women say that they’ve shopped specifically to elevate their mood, and 53% of people have shopped as a way to celebrate something. It’s clear that shopping is associated with good feelings – but it comes at a cost.

Solution: If you find yourself reaching for your credit card to feel good, check yourself and consider taking part in other activities that give you the same feelings. You don’t have to run for a runner’s high – even staunch non-runners like myself can score those happy endorphins through other types of exercise, such as yoga or kickboxing. Spending time with your pet can also make you feel good and reduce your need to shop to be happy.

One thing that I do when I get the urge to shop is to head to the drugstore for a smaller purchase, such as new lip gloss. It helps satisfy the urge and gives me the same satisfaction as a bigger purchase. Find things that give you satisfaction, such as reading a book, going for a walk, or grabbing appetizers with friends, and you’ll get the same good feelings without the high price.

2. Competition
There’s a reason that Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year – and it definitely isn’t because people love waking up early to fight off crowds. Black Friday preys on your competitive human nature. When big sales come up or a sale states that there are only a limited number of items available, your brain tells you that you need to be there and you need to win. You might also allow competition to cause you to buy things that you can’t afford, especially if a family member, friend, or neighbor already has a specific item.

Solution: Shopping isn’t a game, and there aren’t winners and losers. Stores know that telling you about limited quantities will get people in the store, so think about whether you’re going for an item because you really need it, or because you want to “win at shopping.” Let’s be honest – the biggest winners are those who buy only what they need and keep the rest of their money in their wallets.

3. The Idea of Saving
Your brain does a funny thing when perusing sales: When you see a sign that says “Save 50%!” it begins focusing on the savings rather than the spending. In fact, it’s jargon you’ll hear at any department store. You’ll check out with your purchases and the sales associate might say, “You saved $43.78 today!” You might have even used coupons or added discounts to increase that savings number.

You feel good about being a savvy shopper, right? Unfortunately, your brain has fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book, where a store makes you focus on what you’re saving, rather than what you’re spending.

Solution: Let’s get one thing straight: You never save money by spending it. Sure, promotions, sales, and coupons can give you a lower total, but you’re still spending money to purchase the items you want. Don’t fall into the trap of spending just because you want to save a certain amount. The best way to save is with a savings account, not a store receipt.

Item Sale Saving Idea

4. Retail Therapy
While on my shopping fast, I realized just how often shopping acted as a stand-in for various emotions. Happy, sad, annoyed, tired mad – it all culminated in shopping. Buying things feels good, so it can combat a bevy of bad feelings. According to Harris Interactive, one in four people have gone shopping specifically as a form of therapy – to deal with emotions or problems.

Solution: Honestly, hitting the mall when you’re in a bad mood might not be a life-or-death situation, but it still affects your budget and doesn’t allow you to completely deal with your emotions. You’re relying on the dopamine to help you feel better when you buy, but it’s only a short-term fix. Rather than heading to the mall, find other ways to cope – writing in a journal, talking to a friend, starting a blog, or even seeing an actual therapist can all be more beneficial than spending to feel better.

If you feel like a trip to the mall is going to help put a bad day behind you, open your budget. If you don’t have a budget set up yet, sign up for Personal Capital before you keep reading this article. Once you’ve looked over your budget, you should be reminded where your money is supposed to be going.

5. Perceived Value
Retailers play tricks on you to get you to spend. You’ve always learned that getting a good value for your money is best, so you might be more inclined to shop sales or clearance racks only. But consider the experience of mega-retailer JCPenney. In 2012, CEO Ron Johnson decided to try something new: He revamped the store’s image by putting an end to what he called “fake pricing,” which referred to psychological pricing that ended in $0.99, clearance buys, and pricing that was discounted from a clearly inflated number.

In theory, it sounded nice. In practice, customers weren’t buying it – literally. Customers didn’t feel like they were getting value from their purchases. Sales plummeted, and a few months later, sales were back and so were the clearance racks. By 2013, Johnson had lost his job and JCPenney completely returned to its old pricing system.

Solution: Without that red line through the supposed original price and a sale price printed beneath, shoppers don’t feel like they’re getting a huge value for their money. One thing that I use to combat clearance fever is to step back and ask myself, “Would I buy this if it weren’t on sale?” If the answer is no, I put it back and move on.

6. Leisure and Boredom
One of the psychological spending traps I am most guilty of is spending out of boredom. During my shopping fast, my in-laws took my kids for the weekend with the rest of the family and I had two glorious free days to myself. My first inclination? Go shopping.

Hey, I had free time and I was bored, so naturally spending money was my first choice activity. Shopping is a pleasant activity that keeps you busy, so it’s often substituted for other more fulfilling activities.

Solution: Because I was on my shopping diet, I tried something new instead: catching up on my DVR list. I had tons of movies saved, so I used my quiet time to catch up on TV shows and watch some saved movies. It was free and just as enjoyable as shopping.

If you’re a leisure shopper, think of other activities you can sub for shopping and have them ready to go. That way, when you feel like a free afternoon automatically means a trip to the shoe store, you’re ready with a better alternative.

Boredom Psychological Spending Traps

7. Panic Buys
Flash sales, which are offered online via discount group buying sites, use your sense of panic to make you buy, especially because deals are often short-lived. When you buy into a group coupon or you nab a special deal on a watch, you feel a sense of relief because you’re one of the lucky few to score the deal. But buying into flash sales can make you spend needlessly – especially when you’re buying stuff you didn’t even want before it was on sale.

Solution: As a reformed flash sale user myself, the best thing I ever did was unsubscribe to all of the daily emails. Seeing them pop up every day led me to browsing, which usually led me to buying. Now, if I’m looking for a specific deal, I can check in with each site individually and on my own time, rather than having the deals delivered to me each day. Targeted spending means I save money and am no longer tempted by the panic I’d feel when I’d see a flash deal.

Final Word
We’re all guilty of psychological spending. The problem is that retailers know it and find ways to specifically play mind games to get you to spend. It’s all about knowing your triggers: If you know what drives you to spend, you can put safeguards in place to curb that spending and replace it with something more rewarding – and easier on your wallet.

Are you guilty of psychological spending? What are your triggers?

September 8, 2021

Welcome back, I hope you had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend.

Mark the Date: Investment Seminar from Bridges to Wealth
Tomorrow, September 9th, 2021 at 6:00 PM.
Register at bit.ly/B2Winvest This event is for the whole Bodine community!

Today is an Early Dismissal Wednesday Schedule.

IB Juniors and Seniors
-In today’s lesson, you will learn to:
-Experience cognitive biases through thought experiments
-Identify various cognitive biases
-Give examples of cognitive biases in your own life
-Explain what cognitive bias is and how it can impact our decision making
Your Student Activity Packet is in Google Classroom.

Personal Finance
-In today’s lesson, you will learn to:
-Experience cognitive biases through thought experiments
-Identify various cognitive biases
-Give examples of cognitive biases in your own life
-Explain what cognitive bias is and how it can impact our decision making
Your Student Activity Packet is in Google Classroom.