Strategic Spending
By the end of the training, participants will have learned how to prioritize their spending based on needs, obligations and wants and also understand the consequences of not paying off bills and expenses.
Keys to Your Financial Future is a curriculum developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative®. It helps young people — ages 16–26 who are, or will soon be, facing adult responsibilities — build the financial skills they need. The curriculum was created with experts from around the country, including young people who shared what they wished they had known about personal finances as they transitioned into adulthood.
Through interactive activites, the curriculum aims to empower young people to make informed decisions about their financial lives. It is organized into eight segments called keys, which cover topics such as understanding credit, paying bills and budgeting, saving and investing, banking and protecting your identity.
The individual guides for participants will provide the foundation for the training, which is facilitated by an expert.
In 2025, Keys to Your Financial Future is undergoing an update. The revised training decks are available. Please continue using the participant guides below and the facilitator guides while updates are in progress. Please note that these guides do not yet fully match the new training decks.
The curriculum is delivered in eight sections, which are called keys. These keys are: 1) building the foundation; 2) understanding credit history; 3) getting the credit and loans you need; 4) understanding your income; 5) paying your bills and budgeting; 6) saving and investing; 7) banking; and 8) protecting your identity.
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