Financial Literacy

Banzai: (Low Intermediate - Advanced ESOL): In Banzai, your students will pay rent, work jobs, and chafe over taxes. It's a virtual interactive world of decision-making.  You can register students to use the tools independently or use them to demonstrate how to make financial decisions. 

Bow Valley College ESL Literacy Readers:  (Beginner - Low Intermediate ESOL) Free adult education resources to support development of literacy skills for English learners. Stories highlight the lives of immigrants from many backgrounds and ethnicities. 

• Spending Too Much Money

• Food From Home

• A Home of Their Own

Consumer.gov: (Low Intermediate - Advanced ESOL): Federal Trade Commission education resource provides content about money management; credit, loans, and debt; scams and identity theft, and other education resources. 

• Consumer.gov Video Collection: YouTube channel with short 1-2 minute videos about consumer protection basics. 

The Change Agent: (High Beginner - High Intermediate ESOL) A biannual electronic magazine for adult educators and learners published by the New England Literacy Resource Center (NELRC) at World Education, with curated submissions from adult learners across the U.S. (MA adult educators have free access to this site with login massachusetts / changeagent). Issues on topics related to financial literacy include:

• Math (Issue #47, Sept 2018)

• The Economy (Issue #29, Sept 2009)

FDIC Educator Resources: materials and resources designed to help teachers save time when developing lessons about money and finances.

• How Money Smart Are You? (Low Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) Games and resources to support learning about everyday financial topics. (Available in English and Spanish; organizational accounts are available to track student activity)

• Money Smart for Adults Curriculum (Low Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) Content includes fully developed instructor-led lesson materials and interactive participant guides, including problem-based scenarios about diverse individuals and families. 

• Money Smart for Older Adults (Low Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) Content includes fully developed instructor-led materials and participant activities focused on prevention of elder financial exploitation, and financial preparation. 

Green Card Entrepreneur Voices: A collection of 5-6 minute digital narratives from immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs living in MN (E-book of written narratives is also available for $10). 

HandsOn Banking: (Intermediate-Advanced ESOL) A self-directed learning site with informational materials on many financial topics, including, banking, debt, cars, credit and loans, money management, homes, retirement, financial goal-setting, and more.  Content is mostly text-based, with some short intro videos. 

Learning Chocolate (Money) (Beginning-Intermediate ESOL) A free English learning website with vocabulary by categories and an assortment of practice activities (listening, reading, matching, labeling, dictation).  

Marshall Leveled Readers (Beginning-Intermediate ESOL)  Co-created by adult educators using stories from Reading Skills for Today's Adults (RSTA), this resource offers 345 leveled readings and engaging activities to learners and instructors in a variety of formats.

• Shopping for a Car

• Getting to Work

• Pay Yourself First

• Where Does Kate's Money Go?

• Good Times Bad on Wallet

• The Envelope System

MoneyGeek: (Intermediate-Advanced ESOL) This site provides information to inform and support good financial planning decisions, including managing credit, home loans, car financing, insurance, etc.  This series is focused on access to heathy affordable food. 

• How to Eat Healthy When Food Costs Are On the Rise 

• Creating an Affordable Healthy Diet That Works for You 

• How to Find Food Security Support and Hunger Assistance Resources 

MyMoney.gov: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) The Financial Literacy and Education Commission's vision is of sustained financial well-being for all individuals and families in the U.S. In furtherance of this vision, the Commission sets strategic direction for policy, education, practice, research, and coordination so that all Americans make informed financial decisions. 

• Budgeting 101: interactive budgeting tool

• Examining Racial Wealth Inequality: The March 2022 issue of Page One Economics covers the topics of income and wealth through the lens of racial inequality. Learn the difference between income and wealth, how the racial wealth gap has endured over time, and the reasons that certain groups have been limited in their wealth-building potential.

• Neighborhood Redlining, Racial Segregation, and Homeownership: Content demonstrates how residents in redlined neighborhoods could not afford to become homeowners and accumulate wealth at the rates other groups did. It also points out how only when the federal government passed laws banning discrimination in housing and banking did the segregation of African Americans to specific neighborhoods start to ease up. 

• The FRED Blog

  • Job Volatility Among Races: graph comparing white, black, and Latino employment trends over 50 years

  • Racial Inequality remains after MLK: Data on gaps in unemployment and homeownership

  • The Geography of Income Inequality: Graph compares median family incomes in different U.S. geographic regions

  • Who Holds What Wealth?  Graphs show distribution of wealth by socio-economic sectors

Planet Money: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL): Adapted collection of Planet Money podcasts for education. 

• Planet Money: Braiding Hair Without a License (4 minute podcast with adjustable speed and transcript) Story analyzes the laws that require licensure for service industries like cosmetology

• Planet Money: The Cheapest Place to Make A T-Shirt: (7 minute podcast with adjustable speed and transcript) reporters track the production of cheap T-shirts to Bangladesh garment factories

• Planet Money: What it Takes to Raise Your Income: (5 min podcast) How one college adapted its curriculum to increase student success in the nursing program

TED Talks: (Intermediate - Advanced ESOL) TED is a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world, dedicated to the sharing of powerful ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. Recommended TED Talks on the topic of Financial Literacy include:

• Wendy de la Rosa: Your Money and your Mind (8-part series of 3-4 minute videos on financial literacy topics) (Feb 2021)

• Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll: How I Learned to Read --and Trade Stocks -- in Prison (Jan 2016)

• Estelle Gibson: The True Cost of Financial Dependence (Oct 2019)

• Lucia Gonzalez Schuett: Think Twice Before Buying (Feb 2020)

• Thasanda Duckett: 6 Ways to Improve your Relationship with Money (Jan 2020)

• Elizabeth White: An Honest Look at the Personal Finance Crisis (Feb 2017)