It can be difficult for students—and even some adults—to feel confident in their understanding of finances. After all, money can be a source of stability, but it can also be anxiety-inducing when a person doesn’t feel financially literate or in control. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
By teaching students about how money works early on, they’re more likely to mature into financially secure and responsible adults. That’s why we’re here to help you break down essential financial vocabulary into digestible pieces—and then make it fun!
Financial Literacy Vocabulary
Basics
- Income: Money you earn from working or from things you own that make money, like a business.
- Expense: Money you spend on things you need or want, like bills or snacks.
- Interest: Extra money you pay when you borrow money, or money you earn from saving it, usually shown as a percentage.
- Debt: Money you owe because you borrowed it and need to pay it back.
- Credit Card: A payment type that creates a loan, meaning you have to pay back the purchase amount at a later time.
Banking
- Checking Account: A bank account that allows easy access to funds for everyday transactions.
- Savings Account: A bank account that earns interest over time and is typically used for storing money that you’re not going to use right away.
- Overdraft: Occurs when money is withdrawn from a bank account and there are not sufficient funds to cover it.
- Direct Deposit: The electronic transfer of a payment, often a paycheck, directly from the payer’s account to the recipient’s account.
- Loan: Money that you borrow and have to pay back later, usually with extra money on top called interest. An example of this is a mortgage.
Investing
- Stock: A small unit of ownership of a company; when the company makes or loses money, you also can make or lose money.
- Dividend: The name for a distribution of profits by a company to individuals who own that company’s stock.
- Portfolio: A collection of all the different investments (like stocks and bonds) that someone owns.
- Bond: A way to lend money to a company or the government, who promises to pay you back with some extra money later. This is typically a low-risk investment.
- Mutual Fund: A group of different investments that people put their money into together. Experts manage it to help the money grow, and it is considered to be less risky than investing in a singular stock.
Taxes
- Tax: Money that the government charges people to pay for things like schools, roads, and public services.
- Income Tax: A type of tax that you pay on the money you earn from working.
- Tax Deduction: An expense that can lower the amount of income that you have to pay taxes on, so you pay less in taxes.
- Tax Credit: An amount of money that is subtracted from the amount you owe when you file your taxes.
- Witholding: Money that is deducted from your paycheck before you receive it to automatically pay for things like taxes.
Plus, Get our Free Jeopardy-Style Game!
Your students will enjoy playing this Jeopardy-style game where they can work together to guess the vocabulary term from given clues.
How To Use the Game
The game is available on Google Slides and is perfect for classroom use!
Once you’ve reviewed the vocabulary with your students and answered any questions they may have…
- Divide your class into teams to compete in this Jeopardy-style financial literacy game.
- The teams will take turns selecting categories with a point value and then work together to choose the correct term that matches the clue.
- Add up the points for correctly answered questions on the board, and be sure to cross out the categories that were already used!