Real Life Personal Finance Professional Development

Learn How to Achieve Financial Independence & Change the Future of Your Students

RLPF for Professional Development is written by personal finance educators. The training incorporates 40 years of outcome-based experience. Outcomes? The ones that count – Real Life courses change the futures of students with economically disadvantaged students graduating from high school and college.

If you want a comprehensive personal and professional learning experience that will hopefully, reinforce your expectations of the value of education, this is it.

Each lesson consists of challenging content, tips on connecting with your students’ social & emotional development and thinking assignments so you can prepare students for the future.

Decker & Associates offers two prefessional development courses, both which allow you to work with the publisher, at your own pace.

RLPF-PD#1 is a blended online course for 50 PD hours credit. It explores the most important concepts of achieving any goal while providing a foundation for personal finances:

• Instructor’s Introduction – Personal Financial Education vs Personal Financial Literacy, Decker & Associates, Inc, Motivation, Thinking Instructional Methodology and Questions
• Prologue – Why study personal financial education?
• Reality, Goals, and Expectations – Vision, Prioritizing SMART Goals and Creating a Life Plan
• Earnings and Spending – Payroll Statements, Federal Income Tax, FICA and Benefits
• Keeping Score – Financial Statements – Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Budgeting
• Achieving SMART Goals – Emergency Funding, Saving for a Home Down Payment, Retirement Planning & Achieving Financial Independence
• Spending on Major Goals – Buying Cars and Homes and Alternative Sources of Credit
• Managing Credit and Debt – Credit Cards, Credit Reports and Credit Scores
• Final Exam

2. RLPF-PD#2, for 60 PD hours, explores:

• Financial Institutions and Markets – Bank Accounts, Reading Bank Statements, Impact  of Inflation and Taxes on Accumulating Wealth
• Investing – Types of Investments, Diversification, Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis, Minimizing losses and Protecting Gains
• Retirement & Financial Independence Planning – Is Social Security Secure, Retirement Funding, Funding Financial Independence
• Insurance – Identifying and Managing Risk, Medical, Disability, Long-term Care, Life Insurance, Auto, Homeowners, Renters, Flood, Earthquake and Supplemental Insurance
• Identity Theft, Investment Scams, and Schemes
• Estate Planning – Wills, Durable Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, Beneficiary Arrangements, Fiduciaries, Probate, Nonprobate, Law of Descent and Distribution, Estate Taxation
• Postsecondary Education Selection – Career Discovery, MIT Analysis, Identifying Majors, Selecting Institution
• Postsecondary Education Funding – FAFSA, AP/Dual Credit, Scholarships, Loans, Funding Plan, Studying Abroad
• Income Taxes
• Final Exam

Upon successful completion of each component, individuals will receive a certificate of completion.