Principles of Investing

The Principles of Investing course is designed to educate students about saving and investing to achieve future financial goals. The young people of today are the investors of tomorrow, and there are no secrets to successful investing and gaining wealth; only keys and knowledge as guides. In this course, students will learn about budgeting, investing responsibly, balancing risk versus reward, determining their investing style, developing investment goals, and making the right choices to achieve those goals.

The investigation into different investment options will begin with highlighting some of the keys to investing. Units will include investments in real estate, the financial markets of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and the benefits and risks associated with building an investment portfolio. Units will also include cohesive investigations into the working world of investments to examine many of the different career options available.

Students will simulate investing in stocks by participating in a stock market game and engaging with classmates through discussions and blog assignments, sharing what they have learned. We’ll culminate our learning by diversifying an investment portfolio and looking at retirement planning.

This course will align with the National Business Education Association’s (NBEA) Finance and Investing standards. In this Standard-level course, students are expected to invest approximately 6 hours per week on their coursework.

This course is for educational purposes and does not constitute investment advice or any investment recommendations.

Acknowledgements

This course contains an end-of-course proctored exam. Instructions for students to identify an appropriate adult proctor are included in the course lessons.

Course Objectives

Course Essential Questions:

How are sound financial and investment decisions made?
What are the benefits and risks associated with investing?
What are the different investment vehicles and how do they compare?

Course Learning Objectives:

Develop and apply the concept of budgeting and its principles as they pertain to investing. Characterize the basic principles of risk management and the risk-return trade-off.
Construct strategies for diversifying investments and managing portfolios.
Analyze financial data to make informed investment decisions.
Design an investment plan that considers long and short-term investments.

Additional Requirements

Students must be 13 years of age or older to participate in this course, due to the terms of service of How the Market Works, a stock market game.