The PBP has three separate sections that correspond to principles of financial literacy outlined in
the project text. The first part of the PBP focuses on income and taxes. Students conduct Internetbased
research to ascertain a probable post-graduation salary and then apply calculations for payroll,federal and state income tax. In addition to calculating taxes, students learn the concepts of average
and marginal tax rates. This component of the budget project allows students to begin to understand
the impact taxes will have on their take-home pay and, consequently, their budget.
The second part of the project focuses on formulating a budget with an emphasis on saving first
and then determining non-discretionary expenses and examining the impact of debt. Instructors may
have students focus on the largest expenditure in particular categories such as rent (housing) and a
car loan (transportation), or they may have students include additional expenses (e.g., utilities, insurance,
and gasoline). In addition to car loan debt, students explore student loan and credit card debt
as the project guides them through the use of several online calculators to determine minimum payments,
payoff periods, total interest, and the impact of increasing payments. Learning is amplified when
students answer a series of directed questions regarding perceptions of their choices for saving, spending,
and required debt payments.
The final part of the PBP focuses on retirement savings and requires students to evaluate scenarios
which introduce them to the outcomes of saving pre-tax dollars versus after-tax dollars and
the adverse effect of delaying retirement savings. Students evaluate their findings by comparing their
potential retirement savings under each scenario, allowing them to understand the significant impact
of these alternative savings choices.