Building Your Future
Help Your Students Prepare for Personal Finance
Grades 9-12 (High School Students)
The Building Your Future program, hosted by YMI, equips educators and students with essential skills in personal finance for teens and real-world math skills. This high school finance initiative is designed to make financial learning practical and accessible for all. Download free high school finance worksheets and high school math workbook PDFs below.
Getting Started With Building Your Future
Personal finance is part knowledge and part skill, and the Building Your Future series gives students a foundation in both. This resource emphasizes budgeting for high school students, money management for teens, and key financial habits that foster independence and confidence. It’s not just about numbers—it’s about life skills.
This four-part curriculum features interactive PDFs to provide high school students with hands-on experience in all phases of money management, from spending wisely through investing for long-term wealth. Along the way, students practice the math skills essential for a financially healthy life, including the use of modern math technologies such as spreadsheets and online calculators. Each part of the program can be implemented on its own to allow customization for your math, economics and life skills curricula. Additionally, each section is classroom-ready with a teacher’s guide that includes handouts, answer keys, instruction and assessment suggestions.
Book 1: Establishing a Foundation
- Smart Savings
- Spending Wisely
- Many Ways to Pay
- Credit Cards
*5 class periods
Book 2: Paving the Road to Success
- Paths to Employment
- Paying for Post-Secondary Education
- Entering the Workforce
- Taxes
- Retirement Readiness
*10 class periods
Book 3: Expanding Responsibilities
- Begin With a Budget
- Loans and Debt
- Purchasing a Car
- Purchasing a Home
- Insurance Protection
*12 class periods
Book 4: Accumulating Wealth
- Overview of Investing
- Bonds
- Introduction to Stocks
- Introduction to Mutual Funds
*8 class periods
Book 4: Accumulating Wealth – Projects & Presentations
- 30-Day Market-Tracking Project—Stocks
- 30-Day Market-Tracking Project—Mutual Funds
- Student Presentations
Teacher Guides
Book 1
Building Your Future | Establishing a Foundation
Explore checking and savings accounts, direct deposit, online banking, and personal budgets. Activities include budgeting for high school students and decision-making simulations that build confidence in money management for teens.
Book 2
Building Your Future | Paving the Road to Success
Help students understand gross vs. net pay, payroll deductions, and job benefits. This section prepares them for the workforce using personal finance lessons for teens grounded in everyday life.
Book 3
Building Your Future | Expanding Responsibilities
Introduce the concepts of responsible credit use, interest rates, credit scores, and long-term debt. These interactive finance lessons teach how debt decisions impact future choices.
Book 4
Building Your Future | Accumulating Wealth
Students learn the power of compound interest, saving goals, investment options, and retirement planning. These topics help reinforce real-world math skills while supporting your high school economics curriculum.
Student Guides
Book 1
Building Your Future | Establishing a Foundation
Personal finance is part knowledge and part skill — and the Building Your Future workbook series gives you a foundation in both. Book 1 addresses knowledge by covering essential financial principles for establishing a foundation in financial literacy.
Book 2
Building Your Future | Paving the Road to Success
As you move through high school and into adulthood, choosing a career and mapping a path to success are among the most important decisions you’ll make. This workbook covers important topics including paths to employment, paying for post-secondary education, entering the workforce, taxes and retirement readiness.
Book 3
Building Your Future | Expanding Responsibilities
In this workbook, you’ll learn about budgeting, managing debt and establishing credit. You’ll also get to practice the financial decision-making involved in buying a car and a house, and you’ll be faced with the real-life scenario of weighing different options for health and auto insurance.
Book 4
Building Your Future | Accumulating Wealth
In the final installment of the Building Your Future workbooks, you’ll access lessons about investing, bonds, stocks, mutual funds and more. You’ll be able to practice the math skills essential for a financially healthy life, including the use of modern math technologies such as spreadsheets and online calculators.