The Money Smart for Adults instructor-led curriculum consists of eleven training modules that cover basic financial topics. Topics include a description of deposit and credit services offered by financial institutions, choosing and maintaining a checking account, spending plans, the importance of saving, how to obtain and use credit effectively, and the basics of building or repairing credit.
Each of the 11 modules is structured in an identical manner and includes:
- A comprehensive, fully scripted guide for instructors. The guide includes everything necessary to start teaching the program, including easy to follow cues, script, and interactive class exercises.
- Overhead slides in PowerPoint and PDF format.
- A take-home guide for participants that includes tools and information that participants can use independently after completing a module.
Money Smart may be taught to students in a classroom or small group setting. It may also be used in a more personalized setting, such as by counselors working with individual clients. Educators can also integrate portions of Money Smart into other educational resources.
An instructor can teach all eleven modules sequentially or one or more individual module(s) on a stand-alone basis depending on audience needs. Instructors are strongly encouraged to assess the educational needs of their audience and present the module(s) or section(s) of a module that address those needs.
If taught in their entirety, each module takes between 1-2 hours of classroom time to teach. A layering matrix table appears in the instructor guide for each module to provide a break-down of topics, subtopics, target audience, and activities for the module.