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IDA Tutorial - Financial Education PDF Print E-mail
Welcome to CEI's online financial literacy tutorials. The intention of this project is to provide our IDA savers with the knowledge they need to successfully reach their savings and asset purchase goals. While this tutorial is, of course, open to anyone who finds it useful, the two primary purposes in its construction are to provide supplemental information to those who participate in our regular financial literacy and asset-specific classes, and to provide a distance learning option for those IDA participants who are unable to attend regular classes. A paper workbook is also available to accountholders who prefer pencil and paper over computer-based learning.

This online tutorial has been designed to guide you through an examination of your personal financial management skills. If you are completing this tutorial in fulfillment of the Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) Individual Development Account (IDA) personal finance class requirement, it is your responsibility to communicate with the IDA Program Coordinator to ensure that you complete and are credited with your personal finance class requirements. In order to gain credit for completing the CEI Money $mart personal finance class, you must complete and return to the IDA Program Coordinator at CEI the review questions and worksheets included in this tutorial.  A list will be provided at the end of each segment detailing the items to be returned to CEI.

Through the exercises included in this tutorial, you will first be asked to consider your current financial state, including your income and expenses: what you own and what you owe. Once you have a clearer picture of where you are, take a few minutes, or perhaps a few days, to seriously consider what you want. Dream about where you would like to be. You can then more seriously plan how you will reach that goal. By taking measures to repair bad credit and increase your savings, you will learn new skills that will help you reach your financial goals. The fourth segment will cover borrowing and lending, including credit cards, loan amortization, mortgages, interest rates and the cost of money. Finally, a section covering taxes and insurance will assist you with financial planning. You will learn how your tax liability is calculated, as well as information about credits and deductions for which you may be eligible. Along with this tax information, you will learn the role of different types of insurance that may help protect you and your family financially and how to compare competing policies.

Tutorial One: Where are you now?
Tutorial Two: Where would you like to be?
Tutorial Three: How to get where you want to be
Tutorial Four: Borrowing basics
Tutorial Five: Taxes and insurance
 
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