Financial Literacy
"The financial literacy statistics are a crystal ball into the future. Seeing that the majority of college students don’t understand the importance of paying bills on time is a financial literacy statistic that says to me that a lot of those students will have credit problems. Seeing the financial education statistic that states that most do not have a set savings plan shows me that there will probably be a lot of people not able to retire."
"I think it’s obvious, that, unless we change these negative financial literacy statistics into positive financial education statistics that many people will still suffer from money problems."
Erin Mitchell, Student Intern from the National Financial Educators' Council
So You Want to be Wealthy?If I were to do an informal class poll on who wants to be wealthy, a majority, if not all, hands of the class will be up in the air. However, the sad reality is that the majority of high school-aged students do not have the most basic training in how to approach their finances upon the imminent reality of living on their own.
The National Financial Educator's Council (NFEC)
The National Financial Educator's Council (NFEC) states that the lack of financial knowledge results in hardships of debt, lack of retirement funds, and no savings to address financial emergencies. Groups like the NFEC seek to address this lack of knowledge with training and awareness of potential problems that may arise for future generations.
What is Financial Literacy?
For the thirteen digital literacies that will be addressed in the Dudley SciVis blog, you will need to understand what it means to be literate. Literacy is simply competence (ability to do something well) or knowledge in a specific subject, especially the ability to read and write. Financial literacy would then be the ability to read, write, and gain knowledge of or about financial (money-related) matters. Areas that would be under the umbrella of financial literacy include, but are not limited to, budgeting, paying bills, having and maintaining a savings and/or checking account, buying and selling products, marketing products for sale, and laws which govern how finances work. These areas require more than just reading and writing, and, as it is a 21st century skill, you must apply this and the other literacy types in order to be considered literate in this and other areas.
Applying Financial Literacy
The chart below is an example of someone's utility bill with Duke Energy. It shows the gas and electricity usage for a particular home. Using your understanding of how to read charts, answer the question below the chart.
Based on the presented answer the following,
(1) What can you understand about the peak times of electric usage in comparison to the gas usage at the same time and what could be the reason for the similarity or difference in gas to electricity usage that you see detailed on the chart?
(2) How would these changes affect your family budget if rates are adjusted higher for kWh (kilowatts per hour) during peak times of electric usage, but not for hundreds of cubic feet (CCF)?
(3) What are your personal thoughts on financial literacy and how prepared you are to take on financial responsibilities?
Labels: 21st Century Skills, Digital Literacies, Financial Literacy, Literacy
posted by Dr. Pryor at 8:51 AM
17 Comments:
1) The gas usage peaks in the colder months such as November, December , January, and electricity peaks in the summer months which is probably because the person that has this Duke energy service has children. But the user primarily use electricity. Reasons for the similarities is that people tend to stay inside during the winter and summer months , because in the it's too cold to be outside and in the summer it's to hot to be outside.
2) You will be paying more for for electrical use because the cause only effects how much electricity that you use because the electricity usage is measured in kWh. Electricity is the primary use throughout the year anyways the kWh won't affect gas usage because gas is measured in CCF.
3)Financial literacy is important because if you have no way of managing your money you will blow your money the moment you get it. If you don't have plan to save for things such as family emergencies you will be under a lot of stress scrambling to get the financial means together. If you want to go have fun or go on a trip off notice you won't have to worry about not having the money it'll already be saved up . I'm prepared to take on financial responsibilities I know how to manage my money I have a checking account as well as a savings account and I know how to manage my money because my mom and dad have prepared me throughout life and I have taken business class .
1) Gas usage is greater between November to February because of the weather, since it is cold during the winter then the gas usage will be higher. The electricity usage is high all throughout the year but especially during the months between May and September since it is hotter and because students are out of school and people are mainly home.
2) These changes would affect my family budget since electricity is what is being used and because electricity usage is high all year long and extremely high between the months of May and September.
3) Financial literacy is important because it helps you when it comes to having money you need for a family emergency. I don't think I personally am prepared to take on financial responsibilities.
1) Electric bill get's higher around the cold weather and the very hot weather because people either don't want to be outside when it's too cold, or when it's too hot so they tend to stay inside and run up the electric bill. And I think it's the same way with the gas. Only difference is that gas is normally cheaper than electricity.
2) I don't think the changes will make a difference because electricity is always being used.
3) Financial literacy is important because it's important to understand how your money work. I think I'm prepared to take on financial responsibilities.
1. Gas peaks are higher during the cold months, since winters are cold more gas is being used. Throughout the entire year electricity is being used because mostly everyone is doing some thing with electricity.
2. Gas and electricity wouldn't be as high of usage because of the increasing value of kWh.
3. Financial literacy is important because t helps to save money. I would be prepared if I did some research on ways to decrease electricity and gas usage but at this moment I am not prepared to deal with financial responsibilities.
1)The gas usage ifs very different compared to the electric usage, because if you look at the chart they only used gas for the coldest months. But the electric usage is way more than the gas because it is being used more frequently through out all the 12 months which is way more usage then the gas.
2)The changes would affect my family's budget because if the rates are adjusted higher that would mean the more usage the more we are going to have to pay, but it wont affect gas because it's in (CCF) not KWH so the rates will stay the same for gas.
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1. People use more electricity and less gas during the summer months. Most gas usage is in the winter months.
2. It would make it more expensive and thus more difficult for my mom to pay the bill.
3. I think it's easy to understand if you make an effort. However, I don't think I'm prepared because I have no idea what career I want to have.
1)my comparison based on the chart is that the electric bill was higher than the gas because since most things in the house run on electricity it will always be higher than gas because not everything in a house runs on gas.
2)The changes would affect families that use electric only because if the rates go up that means the more time its used the more money you pay. It wouldn't affect people that use gas because gas is not measured in KWH.
3)Financial literacy is important because it helps you save money an live your life better because you know exactly what is going on with your expenses and you know how to keep up with them. I would be ready because I know what can happen when you don't do things on time it results in failure.
1)The gas peaks were usually higher during the colder month of the year which are December, January and February. And with the electricity it is mostly being used all year due to the weather being hot and more people tend to not be outside during the months of June, July and august.
2)Theses rate changes would affect my family budget rates because my family would have to spend more money during peak times. and we would have to cut down on the electricity that we use
3)My thoughts on finical literacy is that in order to be successful and mange money you have to know how to save and better spend money. I think that I am well prepared to face financial responsibilities.
1.) During the autumn and winter months the gas bill does tend to rise because people are using heaters , electric heating blankets , turning the thermostat higher and higher just to get cozy. But on the charts it shows that the gas only rises during the colder months because of the weather , and the electricity is used more through-out the ENTIRE year.
2.) It would not make much of a difference to my family we tend to try and use as little electricity as possible.
3.) Financial literacy is important because it helps you manage your money properly.
JR.
1.The peaks in the chart represent the quantity of usage of each energy source. In the beginning of the year as well as fall through the winter, both energy sources were used more than they were in the summer. However, the electricity was still used in the summer just not as much as it was used in the winter.
2.Most homes including my own obtain energy through electricity. If the rates adjusted higher for electricity than it did for gas, most families would most likely convert to gas or, like my family ,managed the amount of electricity being used.
3. Being that I am the oldest child I’ve always had to be responsible for a lot of things and being that I’ll be 18 in 3 months, my parents have given me more responsibility financially to prepare me for college and the real world. For example , now that I have a job I know how to prioritize my money with what I buy because now, that I make my own money my parents are there for the necessities that they have to provide for me such as housing and food. Phone bills and clothing items or anything else that I would LIKE TO HAVE, come out of what I work for.
(1) What can you understand about the peak times of electric usage in comparison to the gas usage at the same time and what could be the reason for the similarity or difference in gas to electricity usage that you see detailed on the chart? I understand that people use electric more then gas , What could be the difference is that gas go up high then electric in December.(2) How would these changes affect your family budget if rates are adjusted higher for kWh (kilowatts per hour) during peak times of electric usage, but not for hundreds of cubic feet (CCF)? It affect it by the family having to pay more money on the electric bill.(3) What are your personal thoughts on financial literacy and how prepared you are to take on financial responsibilities? My thoughts on it is that im try not to use a lot of stuff around my house that’s plug up if I don’t need to use it at the time and im prepared enough to start taking on financial responsibilities.
1) That the electric usage was higher through the summer while gas usage was mainly used in the winter. Since it is hot in the summer people use their air conditioning which shows why the electric usage is at its peak at that time. The gas usage was at its peak during the winter most likely because of the cold weather and people turned on their heater.
2) How much you pay will increase because since the rate for kWh increased during peak times of electric usage the amount of electricity you use will be higher than usual.
3) Financial Literacy is very important because it shows how well you can manage your money and not spend it all. You need to be able to manage your money so you can have some for emergencies and also so you can retire. I think I am very prepared to take on financial responsibilities because I manage most of my money well and I only spend money when I need to.
1)From the charts I can see that electric usage is more popular than gas because the electric use is more than double the gas usage. Gas is primarily used in the colder months. A reason for this is most likely because if the electricity goes out gas will still allow you to have heat from a fire place that runs on gas and hot water. However electricity can be used for a lot of other things such as lights and heat. Electricity is higher in the summer months. From this you can assume this person has kids because school would be out and their kids are staying at home.
2)If the electricity rate were adjusted during the peak times then my families rate we pay would go up because we also use the most during the peak time.
3)I feel like financial literacy is very important. Not everyone will succeed in school but if every student was taught even basic financial literacy they are more likely to have success in their future than without it because financial literacy teaches people basics of living on your room and providing for yourself. Yes it is important to solve for x but if you cant pay bills what god what that do. Even successful people that lack financial literacy have a hard time because they can be cheated out of their money easily. However I feel like the only reason there are not a lot of students learning about financial literacy is job opportunity. Schools want to teach you school smarts but not real world smart limiting you on what you can do and saving higher jobs for themselves. I know a lot about financial literacy my parents have been teaching me about it my whole life. Even though some people are being cheated out of their education I know I will not be one of them.
1)The peak time for the gas usage is used later during the year when it’s getting into the cold seasons because they’d like to keep their home toasty and warm. On the other hand, the electric usage has a peak mainly in the summer months but it’s at it’s highest in the month of June because that’s when people are using the air conditioner to keep cool from the blazing sun. The main similarity between the usages of both gas and electrical is that they both are being consumed during the months November to February. This is because people are using their everyday appliances which can include both usages to power them which cause them to both be used around the same numbers.
2)Those changes would definitely affect a family’s budget because the peak times is about 1800 kWH (kilowatts per hour), which means if that was adjusted higher a great deal of money would be coming out of the budget for electricity and money that goes else where for the family would have to reduce. The higher adjustment wouldn’t have an impact on gas because the gas usage is measured in CCF (cubic feet) and to avoid the higher cost families might reduce their dependency on electricity instead of switching to gas during hot months.
3)My personal thought on financial literacy is that I find it very important because we basically deal with it the rest of our lives. Whenever we get our own place and start paying our own bills, financial literary kicks in and then it’s all about how can you save money and prioritizing what’s important. I think I still need some time to prepare for financial responsibilities because I need to work on what I prioritize and the time I do it, because the timing you do something has an impact on a lot of different things. For example, paying bills on time affects your credit. You have to know when to prioritize those bills and the time to pay them.
1) The time when the most gas is used, is during the winter and Fall months.To keep their house warm. The electricity is used mostly in the summer months, because people are trying to keep their houses cool.
2)These changes would affect a family budget, because Electric is a year around thing so if kWH increase i good amount of money would be coming out your pocket.
3)Financial literacy is important because for the rest of your lives you will need to balance your money and know how to be responsible.
1. Gas is used in the cold months and electricity is used in the more warmer months.
2. it would effect a families budget and the electricity rates would go up because of the peak times
3. Financial literacy is important because it shows how well some one can manage their money
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