Lesson plan · Money After High School · Lesson 3
Banking on Your Own
Opening your own accounts and choosing where to bank.
- 45 minutes
- Grades 9–12
- Beginner
- Activity: pairs
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Compare banks, credit unions, and online banks
- Set up direct deposit and automatic savings
- Recognize common banking scams
Materials
- Slide deck and a projector
- Worksheet (one per student)
- The lesson's interactive (projected, or on student devices)
- Exit ticket slips (bottom of the worksheet)
Standards
- National Standards for Personal Financial Education (2021)
- SavingSpending
- Texas TEKS §113.76 Personal Financial Literacy and Economics
- (6) The student understands how to set personal spending goals.
- (8) The student understands the importance of saving and investing in creating wealth and building assets.
Topic-level alignment by FLC. How we map standards
Background reading
The official sources this lesson is based on.
- Bank accounts and services (opens in a new tab) · consumerfinance.gov
- Deposit Insurance (opens in a new tab) · fdic.gov
- Share Insurance Coverage (opens in a new tab) · ncua.gov
- Prepaid cards and other prepaid accounts (opens in a new tab) · consumerfinance.gov
45-minute agenda
0–5 min
Warm-up
Post: “What would make you trust a bank with your first paycheck?”
5–12 min
Direct instruction
Present the lesson slides. Make sure students leave with these points:
- Compare fees, overdraft rules, ATMs, rates, and apps.
- Credit unions and online banks often cost less.
- Direct deposit + automatic savings.
- Banks never ask for your security codes.
Use the “See it” slide (Where to bank) to make the idea visual.
12–17 min
Worked example
Walk through “Sofia sets up her accounts” on the slides. Pause before the result and ask students to predict it.
17–22 min
Live demo
Project does the savings rate matter? from the slides. Change one input at a time and have students call out what they think will happen.
22–32 min
Pick a Bank
Format: pairs · 10 minutes
- Three made-up options: Big Bank charges $12 a month unless you keep $1,500, has ATMs everywhere, and pays 0.01% on savings. Local Credit Union has no monthly fee, a shared ATM network, and pays 1.5%. Online Bank has no monthly fee, reimburses some ATM fees, and pays 4%.
- Persona 1: a student who keeps about $300 and often uses cash. Persona 2: a new graduate who wants to grow a $3,000 emergency fund.
- Pairs choose an option for each persona and list two reasons.
What to look for: Big Bank would cost Persona 1 $144 a year in fees. The credit union or online bank fits Persona 1; the online bank's 4% suits Persona 2's emergency fund (about $120 a year on $3,000).
32–37 min
Check for understanding
Use the question slides — or run them as a Four Corners game. Questions:
- What should you do?
- Credit unions are member-owned nonprofits that often charge lower fees.
- Which is usually the cheapest way to receive your paycheck?
37–42 min
Discussion
- What matters most to you in a bank: branches, rates, or the app?
- Why do you think check-cashing stores still exist?
42–45 min
Exit ticket
Prompt: Name two things to compare when choosing where to bank.
Differentiation
Common misconception
“All banks are basically the same.” Fees and rates can differ by hundreds of dollars a year.
Support
Provide a comparison chart with rows for each feature.
Extension
Research one real credit union and one online bank near you and compare them using the same chart.
Homework or make-up work
Students can complete the full interactive lesson — including its knowledge check — at learnwithflc.org/courses/money-after-high-school/banking-on-your-own. No account needed; progress saves on their device.