Exploring My Personal Finances

UNIT 3

EXPLORING MY PERSONAL FINANCES

LESSON 3 – Purchasing a Car

Essential Question (Lessons 1 – 4): “How can learning about money help me plan for the life I want?”

Power Standard (Lessons 1 – 4): People can make more informed education, job, or career decisions by evaluating the benefits and costs of different choices.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will discover basic information related to the process of purchasing a new or used vehicle.

Alignment with Standards: / Common Core State Standards: This lesson is aligned with Common Core State Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RIT.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on- one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and

American School Counselor Association National Standards: This lesson is aligned with ASCA Academic Standards

A: A1.2 Display a positive interest in learning
PS:B1.1 Use a decision-making and problem-solving model
PS:B1.12 Develop an action plan to set and achieve realistic goals
expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

21st Century Skills:

Self-direction: Self-monitoring and reflection, systematic and comprehensive planning
Problem Solving: Self-evaluation and reflection

Materials: / Purchasing a Car Teacher Lesson
Internet Access
UNIT 3 LESSON 3-Purchasing a Carppt
Handouts:
UNIT 3 LESSON 3-The Cost of a Car
Implementation: / Ask the students about their future plans for transportation:
Within your first few years out of high school…
Do you plan to own a car? Take public transportation?
Bike or walk to work?
About how much do you estimate that transportation will cost you per year?
Direct the students stand or raise their hand for the method of transportation listed above that they plan to use most often.
Ask students to share what they think their method will cost them per year—try to find out the lowest and highest estimate from the group and record those numbers on the board.
Tell students know they’ll be working on the transportation portion of their budget to get more solid information to inform their estimated costs.
Present the PowerPoint providing them with information regarding purchasing a car.
Instruct the students to complete The Cost of a Car Task 1
To figure out what a car will cost they need to decide on the car they want! (If they already have a car, start researching thier dream car or the next car they’d want.)
Investigate make and model, new or used, gas mileage, safety issues, resale value. Visit or other sites to find the price of a car they would like to purchase and to investigate resale value of your car.

Car I want: ______
Why: ______
Total purchase price new: $ ______.
Total purchase price used: $ ______.

Investigate the “True Cost To Own” this car by visiting For example, a 2009 Nissan Altima 4-door sedan has the estimated fuel cost of $1,240/year and insurance estimation of 182.25/mo.

Estimate fuel per year per month
insurance per year per month

Determine how much money is needed to be saved and for how long they will need to save. When do they want to have this car? How much CAN they save per month to get the car they want?
Determine how much money they will need to borrow, if they plan to get into debt. If they buy from a dealer, they will need to give a down payment, the amount they give to the dealer on the day of purchase.
Imagine they have saved $2000 for a down payment. The resulting total is the loan principle, which is the amount they will be paying down.
Instruct the students to complete The Cost of a Car Task 2
Here’s an example scenario. Alex wants a car by August of next year. It’s September now, so she has 11 months to save. She has no down payment. The car she wants is 8,000 new or 4500 used. She decides not to buy a new car, but to go for the used car. If she saves up for the used car, she would have to put back 4500/11=$409/month! She can afford about $200 on her car purchase. So, she will either need to: 1) work more, 2) get a cheaper car, 3) wait longer (16 months would just mean saving $281.25/month) or 4) get a loan.

Amount I will save per month for total purchase or down payment
How long I will need to save to purchase the car I want or make a down payment
Loan principle, if applicable: $

Calculate their monthly payments and total amounts paid. Use the scenarios in the table below as potential figures for the calculations:
They will calculate your monthly payment using one of these two online calculators:

Lender / Required Down Payment (if applicable) / Initial Car Cost Minus Down Payment (Loan Principle) / Length of Loan (Loan Term) / Interest Rate / Monthly Payment
Slick Sam’s Auto Sales / $500, if first-time buyer / $9,995 2003 Cadillac Escalade-$500=$9,495 / 36 months / 7.49% for first-time buyers
Bayview Motors / 10% down payment (1000) / $9,995 1,000=$8,995 / 48 months / 2.5%
Magic Milly’s Motors / No down payment / $9,995 / 60 months / 3.25%
Research your own
Show the students what amortization calculator look like and walk through a few examples.
ReflectionWithout considering other transportation costs such as gas, insurance, repairs/maintenance, do any of these choices fit into your 10-15% transportation cost range? Which one(s) fit best into your budget? Why?
Lesson Activities:
**My Financial Plan
**The Cost of a CarBudget complete the activity sheet which is located in the lessons on Moodle.
Additional Resources: / Amortization -

UNIT 3 LESSON 3-Purchasing a Car Teacher Lesson.docx10/13/2018