Personal Management

Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

PERSONAL

MANAGEMENT

Merit Badge Requirements

Name: ___________________ Troop No. ________________

1) Do the following:

A) Lead a discussion with your family to identify one family financial goal that must be saved for out of family income. Choose a goal that has strong personal interest for both you and your family (a family trip or vacation, a new VCR, or a family car, for instance).

B) Discuss the goal in detail (where to go on vacation, for example, or what kind of car to buy), the cost of the goal, and when you wan to reach that goal.

C) Discuss how your family could accumulate funds to reach this goal, how the goal will affect the rest of the family budget, and how you could help your family achieve the goal.

2) Do the following:

A) Prepare a personal budget or spending plan for three months, including a "pay yourself first" savings plan. Keep track of everything you buy. Balance all income with expenses and savings at the end of each month.

B) Share your three-month budget with your merit badge counselor. Explain how you determined discretionary income (income not spent to meet fixed expenses)m how much you saved, and what you spent money on. Did you spend more or less than you budgeted?

3) Do the following:

A) Identify a personal financial goal and make a plan to achieve that goal.

1) Write down the goal you want to achieve. (This may be a small, short-term goal such as buying clothes, or it may be a major, long-term goal such as saving for college.)

2) Develop a financial plan to accomplish the goal. Determine how much the goal will cost, how much time you have to reach the goal, how you will earn money to pay for the goal, and what adjustments you could make if you cannot reach the goal in the desired time with the income you earn.

3) Discuss you plan with your counselor

OR (A or B)

B) Determine a spending/savings plan for living on your own.

1) Choose a realistic job based on your age, skills, education, and experience (working at a fast-food restaurant, movie theater, or college library, for example). Determine how much you would probably make per hour and how many hours you would work each week. Determine your spendable income (after taxes and other deductions are taken out) for a month.

2) Make a list of all basic monthly living expenses: rent, food, transportation, clothing, telephone, etc. Ask family or friends, or call sources to help determine costs.

3) Compare projected income with projected expenses. Would you have enough income to live on? Would any be left over for fun? For savings?

4) If expenses exceed income, determine what options you would have for bringing the two into balance. Could you reduce or eliminate expenses? Work more hours a week? Get a higher paying job?

5) Discuss your final plan with your counselor

4) Do the following:

A) Choose an item you would like to buy. Be specific. (For example, identify the brand name of a pair of shoes you want, or the title of a CD.)

B) Comparison shop for the item. Find out where you can buy the item for the best price. Call around; study ads. Look for a sale or a discount coupon.

C) Consider alternatives. Could you buy the item used? Should you wait for a sale?

D) Discuss your shopping strategy with your counselor

5) Do ONE of the following:

A) Visit a bank. Ask a bank representative to explain checking accounts, savings accounts, loans, and automated teller machines (ATMs). Explain to your counselor the difference between a checking account and a savings account. Discuss with your counselor the minimum requirements to open and maintain the accounts or to take out a loan.

OR

B) Visit another type of financial institution, such as a stock brokerage firm or an insurance company. As a representative what the firm does and how it works with consumers. Explain to your counselor the differences in services offered by the following types of financial professionals: financial planner, stockbroker, insurance agent, accountant, tax preparer, banker, estate planning attorney.

6) Do the following:

A) Explain the difference between saving for a goal and investing for a goal.

B) Explain the two basic methods of investing: loaned and owned.

C) Explain the concepts of simple and compound interest and how compound interest can be used to increase your savings and investments more rapidly.

D) Explain the concepts of yield, profit, and total return, and how they are used to evaluate investment performance.

E) Explain the basic features of the following types of investments, including risks and rewards and whether they involve lending or owning: bank savings accounts, certificates of deposit, U.S. Savings Bonds, shares of stock, shares in a mutual fund, real estate.

7) Do the following:

A) Explain what a loan is, what interest is, and how the "annual percentage rate" measures the true cost of a loan.

B) Choose something that you want to buy or do, but currently cannot afford. Set up an imaginary loan so you can "achieve" that goal. Identify the "principal" amount, interest rate, and repayment schedule. Determine the total cost of the loan (principal plus interest). Determine how it would affect your total cost if you paid back the same amount every two weeks instead of once a month.

C) Explain the differences between a charge card, a debit card, and a credit card.

D) Identify the factors that affect the costs of credit. Tell which factors can be controlled.

E) Explain credit reports and how personal responsibility can affect your credit record.

F) Describe ways to reduce or eliminate debt.

8) Do the following:

A) Explain the five ways to manage risk.

B) Explain the six basic types of insurance and why someday you might need one or more of them.

C) Define the two major types of life insurance (term and permanent) and compare their advantages and disadvantages.

9) Do the following:

A) Identify a job or career that interests you and do basic research about it at your library or through other information sources. Make a presentation to your troop or counselor about the job or career. Your report should include:

1) An explanation of your interest in the job or career (how you learned of it, what about it that interests you, what its job prospects are, and how you think the job or career will change in the future).

2) Any qualification required (education, skills, experiences) and how you might become qualified for the job.

3) The job's functions and responsibilities (the duties of the job or career).

4) The organizations, trade associations, professional associations, governmental regulations, or licenses involved in the career field.

B) Do ONE of the following:

1) Prepare a personal resume for the job.

OR

2) Interview someone in the job or career field and prepare a summary of the interview

C) Discuss with your counselor your personal goals and ambitions in life. Relate these to your intellectual, physical, spiritual, and moral development. How has Scouting helped you in accomplishing your goals and ambitions? Share your thoughts with your family.

Attn: If any requirements listed above differ from the requirements in the Personal Management Merit Badge Book, the requirements in the Personal Management Merit Badge Book are to be followed.

Requirement 1

In the discussion you lead with your family, what family financial goal did you identify that must be saved for out of family income?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

List some of the details of the selected goal. Include the cost of the goal and the timeframe for the goal. _______________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_How can your family get the funds to reach this goal? _______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How will the goal affect the rest of the family budget? _______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How can you help your family reach this goal? _____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Requirement 2

This requirement has you prepare a personal budget or spending plan for three months. Attached to the back of this worksheet is an example of a spending register that you can use or you may choose to use another method to do your financial tracking.

Use this area to help you decide on what your spending plan and/or personal budget should look like or contain. Also, use this area to decide what items you want or need to budget for. Examples include clothing, entertainment, CDs and food expenses. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______ Keep track of your finances for 3 months. Balance all income with expenses and savings at the end of each month.

_______ After the three-month period share your budget with your merit badge counselor.

Briefly explain how you determined income not spent to meet fixed income: _____________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How much money did you save over the three-month period? _________________________________________________________

What did you spend most of your money on? ______________________________________________________________________

Did you spend more or less than you budgeted? ____________________________________________________________________

Requirement 3

Option A

List the financial goal you would like to achieve: ____________________________________________________________

What is your plan to achieve this goal? ____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How much will it cost? ________________________________________________________________________________

How much time will you have to reach the goal? ____________________________________________________________

How will you earn the money to achieve this goal? __________________________________________________________

If you cannot reach this goal in the desired time, what kinds of adjustments could you make to your plan or to your goal?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______ Discuss your plan with your counselor

Option B

Briefly describe the spending/savings plan you created for living on your own: ____________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is the job you selected? ____________________________________________________________________________

How much does the job pay? ____________________________________________________________________________

How many hours a week will you have to work? ____________________________________________________________

After taxes, how much money will you have to spend each month? ______________________________________________

List all basic living expenses for a one-month period:

Item: ____________________ Cost: __________ Item: ____________________ Cost: __________

Using information above, what would your projected income be for one month? ____________________

What would your projected expenses be for a one month period? ________________________________

Would you have enough income to live on? _________________________________________________

Would any be left over for fun or savings? __________________________________________________

Consider the following question:

If your expenses exceed income, what options would you have for bringing the two into balance?

Some options may include eliminating some expenses, work more hours in a week or get a higher paying job. List some of the options you would have and choices you would make if you were faced with this question. What would you do to make ends meet?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______ Discuss your plan and solutions with your merit badge counselor.

Requirement 4

What item would you like to buy? _______________________________________________________________________________

After doing some comparison shopping, list the different prices you found for the item you listed above: _______________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Who has the item for the best price? _____________ Was it on sale? __________ Is a coupon available for your item? ________

After considering the alternatives, could you buy the item used? __________ Should you wait for a sale? __________

_______ Discuss your shopping experience and decisions with your counselor

Requirement 5

Option A

Briefly describe what you learned about the following items during your visit to a bank:

Checking Account: ___________________________________________________________________________________

Savings Account: _____________________________________________________________________________________

Loans: ______________________________________________________________________________________________

ATMs: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

What is the difference between a checking account and a savings account? ________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What are the minimum requirements to open and maintain the accounts or to take out a loan? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Option B

What type of financial institution did you visit? _____________________________________________________________

How do they work with consumers? ______________________________________________________________________

List the services provided by the following:

Financial Planner: ___________________________________________________________________________________

Stockbroker: _________________________________________________________________________________________

Insurance Agent: _____________________________________________________________________________________

Tax Preparer: ________________________________________________________________________________________

Banker: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Estate Planning Attorney: ______________________________________________________________________________

Requirement 6

What is the difference between saving for a goal and investing for a goal? _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

There are two basic methods of investing. Please explain them both.

Loaned: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Owned: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Explain simple interest: _______________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Explain compound interest: ____________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How can compound interest be used to increase your savings and investments more rapidly? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Explain the concept of a yield: __________________________________________________________________________________

Explain the concept of a profit: _________________________________________________________________________________

Explain a total return: _________________________________________________________________________________________

Explain the basic features of the following types of investments:

Bank Savings Account: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Risks: ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Rewards: ____________________________________________________________________________________________