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Requirements January 1998 until January 2004

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 have 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 want to reach the goal.
(c) Discussed 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. 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 determine discretionary income (income not spent to meet fixed expenses), how much you saved, and what you spent money on. Did you spend more or less than you budgeted?

3. Do ONE of 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 goals such as buying close, or it may be a major, long-term goals such as saving for college.)
(2) Develop a financial plan to accomplish the goal. Determine how much the goal 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 can earn.
(3) Discuss your plan with your counselor.

OR:

(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. Asked family or friends, or call sources to help determine cost.
(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 aids. Look for a sale or a discount coupon.
(c) Consider alternatives. Could you buy the item used? Should you wait for a sale?
(d) Discussion or 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 at a savings account. Discuss with your counselor the minimum requirements to open and maintain the accounts were to take out a loan.

OR:

(b) Visit another type of financial institution, such as a stock brokerage firm or an insurance company. Ask a representative what the firm does and how it works with customers. Explain to your counselor the difference is 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 for 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, 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 pay 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 cost of credit. Tell which factors can be controlled.
(e) Explain credit reports and help 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 wife 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 interest 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. You report should include:

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

Requirements January 2004 until January 2016

1. Do the following:

(a) Choose an item that your family might want to purchase that is considered a major expense.
(b) Write a plan that tells how your family would save money for the purchase identified in requirement 1a.

(1) Discuss the plan with your merit badge counselor.
(2) Discuss the plan with your family.
(3) Discuss how other family needs must be considered in this plan.

(c) Develop a written shopping strategy for the purchase identified in requirement 1a.

(1) Determine the quality of the item or service (using consumer publications or ratings systems).
(2) Comparisn shop for the item. Find out where you can buy the item for the best price. (Provide prices from at least two different price sources.) Call around; study aids. Look for a sale or discount coupon. Consider alternatives. Can you buy the item used? Should you wait for a sale?

2. Do the following:

(a) Prepare a budget reflecting your expected income (allowance, gifts, wages), expenses, and savings for 13 consecutive weeks. Track you r actual income, expenses, and savings for 13 weeks. (You may use the forms provided in the merit badge pamphlet, devise your own, or use a computer-generated version.) When complete, present the results to your merit badge counselor.
(b) Compare expected income with expected expenses.

(1) If expenses exceed income, determine steps to balance your budget.
(2) If income exceeds expenses, state how you would use the excess money (new goal, savings).

3. Discuss with your merit badge counselor FIVE of the following concepts:

(a) The emotions you fell when you receive money.
(b) Your understanding of how the amount of money you have with you affects your spending habits.
(c) Your thoughts when you buy something new and your thoughts about the same item three months later. Explain the concept of buyer’s remorse.
(d) How hunger affects you when shopping for food items (snacks, groceries)
(e) Your experience of an item you have purchased after seeing or hearing advertisements for it. Did the item work as well as advertised?
(f) Your understanding of what happens when you put money into a savings account.
(g) Charitable giving. Explain its purpose and your thoughts about it.
(h) What you can do to better manage your money.

4. Explain the following to your merit badge counselor:

(a) The differences between savings and investing, including reasons for using one over the other.
(b) The concepts of return on investment and risk.
(c) The concepts of simple interest and compound interest and how these affected the results of your investment exercise.

5. Select five publicly traded stocks from the business section of the newspaper. Explain to your merit badge counselor the importance of the following information for each stock:

(a) Current price
(b) How much the price changed from the previous day
(c) The 52-week high and the 52-week low price

6. Pretend you have $1,000 to save, invest, and help prepare yourself for the future. Explain to your merit badge counselor the advantages or disadvantages of saving on investing in each of the following:

(a) Common stocks
(b) Mutual funds
(c) Life insurance
(d) A certificate of deposit (CD)
(e) A savings account or U.S. savings bond.

7. Explain to your merit badge counselor the following:

(a) What a loan is, what interest is, and how the annual percentage rate (APR) measures the true cost of a loan.
(b) The difference ways to borrow money.
(c) The differences between a charge card, debit card, and credit card. What are the costs and pitfalls of using these financial tools? Explain why it is unwise to make only the minimum payment on your credit card.
(d) Credit reports and how personal responsibility can affect your credit report.

8. Demonstrate to your merit badge counselor your understanding of time management by doing the following:

(a) Write a “to do” list of tasks or activities, such as homework assignments, chores, and personal projects, that must be done in the coming week. List these in order of importance to you.
(b) Make a seven-day calendar or schedule. Put in your set activities, such as school classes, sports, practices or games, jobs or chores, and/or Scout or church or club meetings, then plan when you will do all the tasks from your “to do” list between your set activities.
(c) Follow the one-week schedule you planned. Keep a daily diary or journal during each of the seven days of this week’s activities, writing down when you completed each of the tasks on your ‘to do” list compared to when you scheduled them.
(d) Review your “to do” list, one-week schedule, and diary/journal to understand when your schedule worked and when it did not work. With your merit badge counselor, discuss and understand what you learned from this requirement and what you might do differently the next time.

9. Prepare a written project plan demonstrating the steps below, including the desired outcome. This is a project on paper, not a real-life project. Examples could include planning a camping trip, developing a community service project or a school or religious event, or creating an animal patrol plan with additional activities not already included in the troop annual plan. Discuss your completed project plan with your merit badge counselor:

(a) Define the project. What is your goal?
(b) Develop a timeline for your project that shows the steps you must take from beginning to completion.
(c) Describe your project.
(d) Develop a list of resources. Identify how these resources will help you achieve your goal.
(e) If necessary, develop a budget for your project.

10. Do the following;

(a) Chose a career you might want to enter after high school or college graduation.
(b) Research the limitations of your anticipated career and discuss with your merit badge counselor what you have learned about qualifications such as education, skills, and experience.