Unit 4: Financial Investment and Personal Money Management
Duration of Days: 17
Stock market statistics (including P/E ratio, dividend yield, market cap, and 52-week highs/lows)
Differences between individual securities and Mutual Funds
Household's tax liability using progressive tax brackets, distinguishing between how a dollar is taxed at a marginal rate
Pre-tax and after-tax deductions to calculate net take-home pay
Data from Form W-2, Form 1040 & federal income tax return
Payroll withholdings & Form W-4
Locate and utilize core statistics (P/E ratio, market cap, and dividend yield) to rank competing companies from lowest to highest financial risk.
Construct a diversified portfolio spreadsheet that allocates capital across mutual funds, index funds, and individual equities to hit a specific risk-tolerance target.
Calculate their exact federal income tax liability by successfully passing the income through progressive marginal tax brackets
Map out the growth trajectory of pre-tax versus after-tax contributions to prove which account maximizes a worker's long-term net take-home pay.
Populate and submit an accurate Form 1040 without errors, resulting in the correct refund or balance due amount.
Complete Form W-4 to ensure payroll withholdings match closely to their actual year-end tax liability.
Students will be given real-life individual & market scenarios and must successfully graph initial data and the resulting changes
Students will take unit quizzes and demonstrate vocabulary/term mastery
Students will participate in a panel discussion centered on a real-life scenario
Participate in structured debates and student panel analyses
Students will be provided with two opposing, rigorous texts regarding concepts from this unit, and must write an argument on their position as to why their belief is correct.