Intro.
You are now a young adult ready to take on the world. This simulation will integrate economic principles, introduce basic ideas of consumer education, and get you thinking about what you plan to do with the rest of your life. It is important to document each site in which you obtain data. You must produce a reference page showing where you found all your information.
Tasks
ü Choose a career
ü Decide where you will go to college
ü Find a job
ü Find a place to live
ü Find transportation
ü Set up a monthly budget
Choose a Career
You may use the Occupational Outlook Handbook to find out about a career you are interested in. Remember to keep in mind what kind of lifestyle you want to live. Include the amount of education needed for your career. Fill out the Career SummariesWorksheet and print when you are finished. You will turn this in later.
Find a College and Scholarship Info.
Now that you know what you want to be, you must decide where you will go to college. Find two different colleges that offer this program. Go to the page in the document labeled College Summaries and fill in the information for each college. Remember to fill this out for two colleges. Print both of these turn in later. In addition, look for scholarship information. The scholarship can be a local, state, or national scholarship. The scholarship can be related to the career or to the education al institution.
Finding a Job
Now let’s assume you have graduated from college with the degree that you want. You must now find a job in that profession. You will use the following job search links to locate a job somewhere. You may use the links below to conduct your job search.
Career Builder
Monster.com
College Board College Grade Job Finder
Once you have located a job, you should then create a MS-Word document that lists the details of your new job. You should create a table. Make it look nice. List the following information and print when you are finished.
· Where the job is located (City and State)
· Job Title
· Company Name
· What you would be doing (if the job description gives you this much information)
· How much you will be making (If it doesn’t list the pay, assume you will be at the lower end of whatever the average is for your career field. You should be able to find that information in Occupational Outlook Handbook.) Be truthful—most people do not start out at six figure salaries.
· Type a short paragraph below your table that describes what site you used to find your job and how you feel about searching for a job on the internet. Will it help you in the future? Was it hard to find a job that interested you in your particular profession using JUST the Internet? Do you think you will utilize this job search method after college or maybe even after high school to help you find a job?
Finding a Place to Live
Almost everyone has an idea of where they would like to live, and what type of house they would like to own. It is your job to use the links below to find your dream house of your dream apartment if you can’t afford a house. After you find it, make sure to note where the house or apartment is located, and what the selling price is or what the rent will be. Also make sure to note the URL that you used. NOTE: These are just suggestions for starting points; you are not limited to these.
www.realtor.com century21.com homeseekers.com
www.rent.net www.bestplaces.net/html/col1.asp
If you decide to buy a house, use the loan payment calculator link below and calculate how much your monthly house payment will be. Here are the terms of the loan.
· 20% down payment—YOU HAVE TO HAVE THIS SAVED ALREADY. Banks will not discuss home loans if you don’t have enough for a down payment.
· Rate: 5.8%
· 30 year loan
Figure your monthly mortgage payment by using the Yahoo! Realestate Loan Payment Calculator.
If you are going to rent for awhile (most of you will), then you must list the following in a nicely formatted Word document.
· Rent Amount
· Location
· URL of where the apartment can be found on the Internet
· How long is the lease you will sign
· What is the security deposit amount?
· Picture of apartment or building
· What items are included in the rent? (water, trash, etc.)
· Any other details that you feel are important about your new apartment
Print a MS-Word document that displays your house or apartment. If you are buying a house, you should include the following:
· Picture of the house
· Price of the house
· Where the house is located (address, city, state)
· URL of where the house can be found on the Internet
· 20% down payment amount—must already have this amount saved
· Loan Amount (rate, term, and amount financed)
· Monthly house payment
· Any other details of importance (# of bedrooms, brick/siding, etc.)
Save this and print for later.
Finding a Car
Most people have ideas on what type of car they would like to own. Use the Internet to shop for your car. Make sure to note the price of the car and the URL you used to find it. Keep the following information in mind:
· Most manufacturers have their own website that will let you build your own car and it will give you a price breakdown for the options you choose.
· You can use sites from the manufacturer or sites like: auotweb.com, autotrader.com, Microsoft Carpoint, etc.
· Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com) This site will help you find a pre-owned and new vehicle’s book price (blue book).
· Don’t forget to buy insurance on your car. http://autos.yahoo.com/carcenter/car_insurance.html or esurance.com
After you have found the car you want, let’s see if you can afford it. Determine how much your monthly payments will be, how much your insurance will be and where you will finance it. Figure your monthly car payment using Yahoo Loan Calculator. Here are the terms of the loan:
· 7% sales tax (This cost is an addition to the price of the car.)
· Down payment of $2,000
· Interest rate 3.9%
· You decide on the loan length: 24, 36, 48, or 60 months
· Rebates and special financing will be given for each manufacturer if it currently available. You will have to go to each manufacturer’s site to locate that information.
Use the table feature in Word to create a table that shows the details of your cream car. Be sure to show documentation about each site you used to obtain your data. Show this information below your table.
Your table should show the following information:
· Brand and type of car
· Picture of outside of car (if available)
· View of inside of car (if available)
· 5 standard options
· 5 optional features that you want on the car (sunroof, power seats, etc)
· Hyperlink to a car dealer where you could possibly purchase your dream car.
· Sticker price of the car
· Monthly financing cost and options you will use. Use the loan calculator link provided to determine your monthly payments (Check your car manufacturer for rebate information.)
· Break down the terms of your car loan: 36 months, price per month, what rebate is offered, etc.)
· Insurance rates for you to drive this car. (Keep in mind that this is after college—so adjust your age)—suggestion: esurance.com
Save and print the document when you are finished.
Setting Up Your Budget
The next step is to set up your budget. Use the worksheet provided to determine your monthly budget. You will answer the following questions on a separate document using complete sentences.
· Create a monthly budget. You must include the information listed on the Budget Requirements table. Use the table that I have created and fill in the blanks with your information and your own comments. Print this out.
· I will email each of you some UNEXPECTED EXPENSES that will occur. You should then add those unexpected expenses to your monthly budget and print it out again with the unexpected expenses. We all know those unexpected things occur when we least expect it and it is important that we have some plan in place to help with those.
· After completing the chart, write a paragraph answering each of the questions below regarding this experience:
· Compare and contrast the money you actually had available each month to what your expectations were. Were you able to afford more or less than what you expected?
· Are your expectations of living on your own realistic when you get out into the “real world” or are you living in a fantasy world?
· Were you able to save money? If not, what will you do to help you start saving money?
· Did you have money left each month? or Did you spend more than you made?
· What items cost more than you thought they would?
· How can you prepare yourself for unexpected expenses?
Here are some suggestions for helping you determine your budget amounts:
American Consumer Spending
(Suggestionns are Averages Based on Net Pay)
NET PAY is pay after taxes and other deductions. To make it easy to calculate, figure 20% of your gross pay for taxes and deductions. Deduct this amount from the gross pay.
Category / Percentage of Net PayHousing / 28-31%
Transportation / 18%
Food / 13%
Personal Insurance / 11%
Personal Taxes
Health Care / 5%
Entertainment / 5%
Clothing / 5%
Other / 2%
Personal Care / 1%
Reading / 1%
Education / 1%
www.netgrocer.com
www.target.com
www.sbc.com/gen/landingpages?pid=3310
www.dishnetwork.com/content/getdish/dha/index.shtml
www.directv.com/DTVAPP/index.dsp
Print out all documents and turn them in. They must be in the correct order or you will loose points. Staple them together.
- Career Worksheet
- College Summaries
- Job Description Document
- House or Apartment Description
- Car Table
- Budget Worksheet (You should have 2 of these.)
- Paragraph detailing your experiences as you worked through this simulation. (You must answer all questions in order to receive points.)
- Blank Scoring Guide
Evaluation/Scoring Guide
Criteria / Points Possible / Points Earned / Comments
Career Worksheet / 12
College Summaries and Scholarship Information (2) / 28
Job Description Doc.
(table with border and page border, include all requested information, include paragraph with answers to questions provided) / 10
House or Apartment Document / 5
Car Table with All Requested Information / 5
Budget Worksheet
(included unexpected expense emailed to you) / 20
Paragraph about Experience / 5
Reference Page (URLs included on separate page or throughout the sections) / 5
Correct Order / 5
Total / 95
College Summaries
Type of Institution (public or private)
URL of College
Address of College
Phone number of Undergraduate Amissions
Tuition and Other Expenses (list amounts and descriptions)
Admission Requirements (i.e. ACT, SAT, HS GPA, etc.)
Scholarship Information
Name of Scholarship
Local, State, or National
Sponsor of Scholarship (agency, organization—Who is giving the money?)
Requirements for scholarship
Due Date of Scholarship
Scholarship Information
Name of Scholarship
Local, State, or National
Sponsor of Scholarship (agency, organization—Who is giving the money?)
Requirements for scholarship
Due Date of Scholarship
Career Summaries
Education Requirements
URL of Career information
Average Salary
Job Outlook
Job Description
(What will you do? What kind of setting will you work in?)
Budget Worksheet
Income
Amount
Monthly Gross Salary
(Yearly Gross/12)
Taxes and Other Deductions
Estimate that 25% of your gross pay will be used to pay for SS and Fed and State taxes. These are automatically deducted. Other deductions could include insurance, retirement, etc. How much of your gross salary will be taken out?
Health Insurance
Health insurance is typically a benefit given to you by your employer. However, it is not free. Your health insurance will cost you $150 a month for this plan. / $150
Net Salary
What is your monthly net salary after deductions? (take-home pay)
Living Expenses
Rent or Mortgage Payment
Utilities—electric, sewer, water, trash pickup, etc. (25% of rent or mortgage payment)
Transportation/Car Payment
Insurance cost (house or apartment)
(This may be difficult to find. Let me know if you have trouble.)
Auto Insurance
Fuel Cost
Food
Eating out causes this number to increase!
Clothing
Leisure
Cable or Satellite
Cell Phone
Telephone (Landline—basic service from SBC is about $20 per month not including long distance calls)
Internet Access
Savings (mandatory 3%)
Miscellaneous (college loan payment, gifts, unexpected expenses, entertainment, other things you want to buy)
Total Expenses
Monthly Balance (What do you have left over?)
Comments: (List any special things you want me to be aware of here. For example, you are putting extra away in savings—more than the required 3%.)