Candynomics: The Economics of Halloween

If you‘re like most Americans, you snatch up those giant bags of candy the week before Halloween to appease trick or treaters.

So many people do this that the few days before Halloween account for $2 billion in candy sales.  What else are we spending our billions on during Halloween?

Questions:

1. List annual Halloween sales in order (largest to smallest) based on the pie chart.
2. How much does the average U.S. household spend on candy per year?
3. The average American consumes how much candy per year?
4. In your opinion, at what age is a person too old to Trick or Treat?
5. Why do you think Halloween is so popular in the U.S.?
6. What is your favorite Halloween candy?
7. What does your family (or you) do for Halloween?

Saving for the Long Haul

You may remember Dave Ramsey's story of Ben & Arthur and my spreadsheet showing you how important it was to start investing early.  This is a similar example.

• Read pages PF16-PF19
• Explain Compound Interest in your own words
• Answer the "Are You Ready?" questions on the bottom of page PF17
• #1: A paragraph
• #2: A basic list
• Answer the "Are You Ready?" questions on the bottom of page PF19
• Give me an example of something that COULD happen where you would need an emergency fund to keep going -- without borrowing or using a credit card.

Building Your Investment Portfolio

Read pages PF14-PF15 in the "Building Your Portfolio" section.

• In your own words, explain "diversity"
• Page PF13 discusses the number of teen investors in the U.S.  Write a paragraph discussing whether or not that is surprising to you, and overall what you think about that fact.
• Explain the "Rule of 72" in your own words (PF15)
• Answer the "Are You Ready?" questions on PF15

Investing

We will be exploring Investing, but this section should give you a solid start.

• Read pages PF10-PF13 on Investing
• Why do you think 2/3 of millionaires are self-employed?
• Write down the Google stock price and the Yahoo stock price from 9/1/10 (from PF11), and find the current value (on your or another persons phone).  How much have they changed?
• Explain "Risk" in your own words (PF12)
• Answer the questions in the "Are You Ready?" section:
• #1: In a paragraph
• #2: In a paragraph

Checking Accounts and Online Banking

The number of people using paper checks is declining rapidly, so why am I going to have you learn about "checking accounts"?  Well, because checking accounts are only partially about checks.  They also allow you to use debit cards, ATM's, and more.  Understanding how to manage your checking account, how to keep track of what you spent, and understanding how to balance [or even fix] your bank account is critical.

• Read pages PF6-PF7
• Study the check diagram on page PF6 because you will need to know that when I return.
• Answer the questions on page PF7:
• #1: A solid paragraph explaining why.
• #2: A regular list of fees.
• Read pages PF8-PF9
• From 1995-2007 ATM usage increased _____%
• Answer the "Are You Ready?" questions on page PF9 (in paragraphs)

Exploring Personal Finance:

Get your Economics text from the book shelf (put it back when you are finished) and turn to page PF1 (right after page 512).

• Read pages PF2-PF3
• Answer the "Are You Ready?" questions on PF3
• #1 in a full paragraph.
• #2 as an ordered list (i.e. #1 do this)
• Read pages PF4-PF5
• Answer the "Are You Ready?" questions on PF5
• #1 in an ordered list
• How were these budget steps and ideas similar and different from the budget unit we discussed?
• Looking at the "What's in Your Budget?" pie chart at the top of PF5:
• How much of your total income should you allow for housing?
• How much of your total income should you allow for Clothing?