The Center for
Mathematics and Quantitative Education at Dartmouth

Money Matters
The Financial Literacy Initiative at Dartmouth College

Jetta or Jaguar? Buying your Ideal Car - Outline

Slides are tagged by opening line.

  1. "You're going to graduate" opens the discussion by inviting an emotional response to car ownership.
  2. "What is your ideal car?" asks the class to consider as many aspects of a car as possible, many of which will be financial.
  3. "Choose two cars" has students pick two cars to compare financially.
  4. "Did you find some good options?" looks at the cost of car insurance and asks students to list other expenses they will encounter.
  5. "Now that you have" asks students to estimate all of these expenses, using the calculation for monthly cost of gasoline as an example.
  6. "What is the monthly cost" has students consider the cost of financing their vehicle, with a cautionary example.
  7. "To make sure you avoid" introduces a spreadsheet and a worksheet for figuring loan payments. These are core activities for students.
  8. "Notice the column" has students compare the remaining amount owed on the car to the value of the car over the period of the loan.
  9. "One risk in taking out a car loan" explains why it may be risky to have a loan during periods when the value of the car is less than the amount owed.
  10. "More about the upside down" has further explanation.
  11. "So, can you afford" asks the larger budgeting question.
  12. "Compare the impact" asks students to compare the most and least expensive alternatives they have found.
  13. "Fantasy and imagination" concedes that we may always want more than we can afford, concluding with a bit of humor.

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