Kansas
8th Grade
State Standards
I. Earning Income
8-1Careers are based on working at jobs in the same occupation or profession for many years. Careers vary in their education and training requirements.
8-1aDiscuss the advantages and disadvantages of working in the same occupation or profession for many years.
8-1bCompare the education and training requirements for at least two careers.
8-1cInterview a person who is in a career of interest and create a timeline that shows the progression of their education, training, and job experiences.
8-2People make many decisions over a lifetime about their education, jobs, and careers that affect their incomes and opportunities.
8-2aCompare the education and training requirements, income potential, and primary duties of at least two jobs available to high school students.
8-2bConduct research on a specific career field. Describe the education, job, or career decisions individuals in this field might make over their lifetime and explain how this could affect their income potential and opportunities.
8-2cAssess personal skills and interests and match them to various career options.
8-3Getting more education, training, and experience can increase a person's human capital, productivity, and income-earning potential.
8-3aInvestigate training opportunities that can increase a person's ability to obtain higher paid employment during high school.
8-3bExplain why adults with a college education may earn more than adults with no education beyond high school.
8-3cDiscuss how specific skills training can improve a young person's human capital, productivity, and income-earning potential.
8-3dGather data on the average wage or salary for different jobs and explain how they differ by the level of education, job skill, or years of experience.
8-4Education, training, and development of job skills have opportunity costs in the form of time, effort, and money.
8-4aDescribe the opportunity costs of attending a training course on babysitting, lifeguarding, or first aid.
8-4bCompare the costs of post-secondary education with the potential increase in income for a career of choice.
8-4cExplain why families/caregivers might choose to help pay for education and training of younger family members.
8-5Net income (take-home pay) is the amount left from wages and salaries after taxes and payroll deductions.
8-5aDifferentiate between gross and net income.
8-5bIdentify common types of payroll deductions.
8-5cExplain how taxes impact take-home pay.
8-6Social Security is a federal government program that taxes workers and employers to provide retirement, disability, and survivor income benefits for workers or their dependents.
8-6aIdentify the different groups of people who qualify for Social Security benefits.
8-6bResearch the Social Security tax rate for someone who is self-employed vs. someone who is working for an employer.
8-6cGiven information on a worker's income and today's Social Security tax rates, calculate what the worker and the worker's employer will pay in Social Security taxes.
8-6dInvestigate Social Security benefits for people of different income levels at their full retirement age.
8-7People are required to pay taxes on most types of income, including wages, salaries, commissions, tips, earnings on investments, and self-employment income.
8-7aIllustrate the relationship between income level and income tax paid.
8-7bDescribe how taxes are paid on tip income.
8-7cResearch the consequences of failing to pay income taxes.
8-8The government provides income support and assistance for people who qualify based on low income or other criteria.
8-8aExplain the financial situation addressed by Medicaid and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
8-8bGive several examples of personal circumstances that qualify for government income support or assistance.
8-9Entrepreneurs gain satisfaction from working for themselves and expect to earn profits that will compensate for the risks associated with new business ventures.
8-9aInvestigate the motivating factors to being self-employed or working as an independent contractor in the "gig" economy.
8-9bDiscuss why starting a new business could be riskier than other career choices.
8-9cResearch common reasons for new business failures.
II. Spending
8-1Creating a budget can help people make informed choices about spending, saving, and managing money in order to achieve financial goals.
8-1aIdentify personal goals for spending and saving.
8-1bCreate a budget that includes expenses and savings out of a given amount of income.
8-1cExplain why people with identical incomes make different choices for spending, saving, and managing money.
8-1dDiscuss the budgeting challenges faced by people living on minimum wage.
8-2Making an informed purchase decision requires a consumer to critically evaluate price, product claims, and quality information from a variety of sources.
8-2aSelect an item and gather information from the manufacturer's website, retail websites, and consumer review websites.
8-2bExplain the types of information most helpful in making a purchase decision.
8-2cIdentify misleading or deceptive information about consumer goods or services found in online and print sources.
8-2dDiscuss ways to verify a claim expressed in advertising for an age-appropriate product.
8-3When evaluating information about goods and services, a consumer can better assess the quality and usefulness of the information by understanding the incentives of the information provider.
8-3aEvaluate information about goods and services based on reliability and accuracy of the source.
8-3bAssess strengths and weaknesses of various online and printed sources of product information.
8-3cIdentify sources of product information that are less useful for buying decisions due to incentive conflicts of the information provider.
8-4Consumers weigh the costs and benefits of different payment methods to determine the best option for purchasing goods and services.
8-4aExplain the difference between a debit card and a credit card.
8-4bExplain how various payment methods are used to purchase goods and services.
8-4cSummarize the advantages, disadvantages, risks, and protections of various payment methods.
8-4dChoose and justify a preferred payment method for purchases of at least three different types of goods and services.
III. Saving
8-1People save money for many different purposes, including large purchases such as cars and homes, education costs, retirement, and emergencies.
8-1aIdentify the most common reasons that people save money for the future.
8-1bCreate a savings plan that will allow someone to make a large purchase in one year, 5 years, and 10 years.
8-2Savings decisions depend on individual preferences and circumstances, and can impact personal satisfaction and financial well-being.
8-2aCompare personal attitudes toward saving to those of a friend or relative.
8-2bExplain how a person's personality type might affect their willingness to save or to stick to a savings plan.
8-2cIdentify life situations that can make it difficult for a person to save or to stick to a savings plan.
8-2dDiscuss how savings decisions can affect financial well-being.
8-3Financial institutions pay interest to depositors and loan out the money to borrowers who pay interest on their loans.
8-3aCompare and contrast different types of financial institutions and their products and services.
8-3bCompare the interest rate paid by a financial institution on savings accounts to the interest charged by the same institution on loans.
8-3cExplain how financial institutions get the money to pay interest to their customers who deposit money in savings accounts.
8-4Interest earned on savings is the interest rate multiplied by the balance in the account, which includes the original amount saved (principal) and previously earned interest.
8-4aDifferentiate between principal and interest.
8-4bDemonstrate how earning a higher interest rate on money in a savings account will help a person to reach their savings goal sooner.
8-4cUse the Rule of 72 to approximate how many years it will take for savings to double in value at different rates of interest.
8-5Compound interest is interest on both the original principal and previously earned interest, as compared to simple interest which is only interest on the original principal.
8-5aExplain the benefit of compound interest as compared with simple interest.
8-5bDemonstrate how annual interest earned increases over time when both the original principal and earned interest are left in a savings account.
8-6Checking and saving deposit accounts in many financial institutions are insured up to certain limits by the federal government.
8-6aExplain the importance of federal deposit insurance.
8-6bCompare Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) insurance coverage limits for checking and savings accounts offered at financial institutions.
8-6cIdentify types of accounts that do not offer deposit insurance.
IV. Investing
8-1Investors in financial assets expect an increase in value over time (capital gain) and/or receipt of regular income, such as interest or dividends.
8-1aList the potential benefits of investing money in a financial asset.
8-1bExplain why some people might prefer to buy investments that grow in value over time instead of investments that pay regular income.
8-2Common types of financial assets include certificates of deposit (CDs), stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and real estate.
8-2aDefine common types of financial assets.
8-2bDemonstrate how to find the current prices of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.
8-2cDiscuss how some financial assets can be harder to sell quickly (e.g. stocks traded on an exchange versus real estate).
8-3Investors who buy corporate or government bonds are lending money to the issuer in exchange for regular interest payments.
8-3aCompare corporate and government bonds.
8-3bCalculate the amount of annual interest income an investor would receive from a corporate bond offering at a given coupon interest rate.
8-4Investors who buy corporate stock become part-owners of a business, benefit from potential increases in the value of their shares, and may receive dividend income.
8-4aSelect a stock and find the dividends it paid last year and how much the price of the stock has changed over the year.
8-4bExplain the potential risks and rewards of investing in corporate stock.
8-5Instead of buying individual stocks and bonds, investors can buy shares of pooled investments such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
8-5aExplain the concept of investment diversification both within and among different asset classes.
8-5bDiscuss the advantages and disadvantages of investing in a diversified stock or bond mutual fund versus individual stocks and bonds.
8-6Different types of investments expose investors to different degrees of risk.
8-6aCompare rates of return on different types of investments and order them by risk.
8-6bIdentify investments that would be most appropriate for people who are uncomfortable with taking financial risk.
8-7The benefits of compounding for building wealth are greatest for people who invest regularly over longer periods of time.
8-7aExplain the concept of compounding.
8-7bEstimate the future value of a lump sum invested today for a specified period of time and rate of return.
8-7cEstimate the future value of a regular series of equal annual investments for a specified period of time and rate of return.
8-7dDemonstrate the difference in wealth accumulation for a person who begins to invest regularly at age 30 versus someone who starts at age 40.
V. Managing Credit
8-1Interest rates and fees vary by type of lender, type of credit, and market conditions.
8-1aIdentify financial institutions and businesses that offer consumer credit.
8-1bCompare lenders based on type of credit offered, interest rates, and fees.
8-1cExplain how market conditions impact interest rates.
8-2Financial institutions advertise loan costs to potential borrowers using the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), expressed as an annual percentage of the loan principal. Low introductory rates offered to attract customers may increase later.
8-2aDescribe how lenders advertise loan costs to potential borrowers.
8-2bCalculate APR, given annual interest and loan amount.
8-2cInvestigate what happens to a low introductory interest rate when the borrower misses a payment or makes a late payment.
8-3The longer a loan repayment period and the higher the interest rate, the larger the total amount of interest paid by a borrower.
8-3aDescribe the effect of higher interest rates and longer loan terms on the total cost of a loan.
8-3bFor a given monthly payment, loan amount, and loan repayment period, calculate the total amount of interest paid by the borrower.
8-4Credit cards typically charge higher interest rates on balances due compared with rates on other types of loans.
8-4aExplain why credit card interest rates tend to be higher than rates for secured loans, such as automobile loans.
8-4bDescribe how a credit card user can minimize interest charges on their credit card purchases.
8-5Lenders charge different interest rates based on borrower risk of nonpayment, which is commonly evaluated using information in the borrower's credit report.
8-5aIdentify the types of information contained in a credit report.
8-5bDiscuss how a borrower's credit history can impact their borrowing costs.
8-6When people borrow money to invest in higher education or housing, the risks and costs may be outweighed by the future benefits.
8-6aExplain why using credit to finance education and housing could be beneficial.
8-6bAssess the benefits and costs of using credit to finance education and housing versus using credit to purchase food and clothing.
8-6cJustify the use of credit for a specific purchase.
8-7Borrowing increases debt and can negatively affect a person's finances.
8-7aIdentify indicators that a person has accumulated too much debt.
8-7bPredict the possible consequences of having a lot of debt payments relative to income.