• Create three SMART financial goals including the following:
  • Savings
  • Spending
  • Sharing (Donating)
• For each goal, develop an action plan with 3-5 steps

M2 | Taxes and Your Financial Plan

• Prepare a flowchart that communicates the steps you would take to file your federal income taxes.
• Explain the steps in relation to:
  • If you have or will prepare your own taxes OR if you currently or will have a tax professional to prepare your taxes
  • Research and explain the tax deductions and credits

M3 | Investments Basics I: Financial Services, Stocks, and Mutual Funds

• Identify three factors that are more important to you for selecting a financial institution.
• Using the websites of three different financial institutions, prepare a comparison of the organizations based on the three factors you identify,
• Which of the three financial institutions would you use? Why?M4 | Consumer Credit and Loans
• Provide a list of suggestions when choosing a credit card.
• What are the six rules for using a store credit card?
• Using the Bankrate
• Links to an external site.
• website answer the following real-life questions:
  • If you had $5,000 credit card debt with an interest rate of 24% APR, share the results of using three different combinations of the payment amount and payoff time of your choice.
• Explain the three different options when obtaining a loan.
• Explain how you can avoid the minimum monthly payment trap