LIFE Initiative for high school students

Q. What does LIFE stand for?
A. The acronym LIFE stands for LITERACY IN FINANCE & ECONOMICS. 

Pioneering high school students came up with the LIFE acronym, and have created a set of courses for their peers.

Q. What is the LIFE Initiative?
A. The LIFE Initiative is a program which is dedicated to spreading financial literacy to those who have not had the chance to learn about financial literacy. Our goal is to educate as many people as possible to ensure that many people who may have never had access to resources to learn about Financial Literacy are able to learn more and hopefully apply it to their daily lives.

Q. Who is the audience for this course?
A. The audience for this course is under-represented communities who were traditionally not educated in finance. Many of these groups are sometimes seen as targets of business practices that take advantage of them. Although this initiative’s main mission lies in helping those in under-represented communities, The LIFE Initiative is meant for anyone who wishes to learn more about finance and the economy, along with their own personal finance.

Q. What problems were observed in the communities that led to the creation of this course (what makes this course relevant for the current times)?
A. One of the main things that has led to this expansion of The LIFE Initiative has been things such as predatory business practices aimed at communities without traditional education in Finance. There are ads in which they are advertising payday loans as a viable alternative to being paid on a schedule without mentioning the other side of payday loans, mainly being the amount they take out of your paycheck. This advertising is done in such a way to where those with more limited knowledge of Finance and the global economy would find this to be a good option and end up losing hundreds to thousands out of their paychecks over time.

Q. What are the 5 key takeaways for the audience from this course?
1. Financial Literacy is for anyone, regardless of age or any other factor
2. Financial Literacy can be applied to anything, it does not have to be on a big scale
3. Finance is not just stocks, bonds, etc. there are elements that can be applied to daily life, such as how to properly use a credit card to its max benefit
4. Learning about Financial Literacy is an easy way to avoid falling for predatory schemes online which are looking to make money off of you
5. Promoting financial literacy and understanding of economics is crucial for fostering a more equitable society; economics will always be an integral part of our society and learning about it allows you to become a more and more involved citizen, not just locally but globally.

Q. What is the outline of this course?
A. The outline of this course is mainly split into three different categories.

1. 1. Personal Finance
   2. Economics
   3. Financial Markets 

Each one of these three topics has many divisions under it which can be infinitely expanded upon; ranging from investments to retirement.

Q. Can this course be taught online?
A. Yes; this course can be taught online. We are currently in the midst of creating videos to go with slideshows that can be posted online. Our goal would be to create 5-minute-long videos with concepts that can be digested in that time period. Through smaller digestible content over a spread of time, we hope to help comprehension and overall information retention.

Q. What are some of the group activities that the audience will go through during the course?
A. Some activities that we currently have planned include interactive simulations regarding investing, scenarios, and project-based learning, along with smaller board games. We are also in the midst of creating even more interactive ways to learn about Financial Literacy.

Q. How many hours of attendance are required to complete the full course (also, can it be shortened, and if so many hours will the short version take)?
A. We estimate that the entire house could be completed in about 10-15 hours if taking the course on your own. In a class setting, we estimate that each one of the three topics could be covered in approximately three one-hour classes. This would allow time for questions along with interactive activities.

After the course has been completed, what positive changes could be expected in the lives of the participants?
Financial Literacy is a major part of day-to-day life, especially here in the United States. After completing this course, we hope that students are able to have more confidence in their abilities in the market, along with even managing their personal finance at home. Right now, about 58% of Americans own stock, and with our course, we hope to bring that number up by increasing confidence and overall knowledge of financial markets.

Q. Who are the two instructors of this course?

A. Here is a bit about the two instructors who have created the LIFE Initiative