2014 ICCB and CAIT i-pathways.org 1 The GED Mark is a registered trademark of the American Council on Education.

Transcription

1 The Consumer Education Module contains multiple short answer questions. While the answers may vary among student responses, the following is a listing if each question with a possible answer. UNIT 1: GETTING A JOB OR FURTHERING YOUR EDUCAITON Lesson 1: Finding a Job Employers should or should not have the right to look at my online information. This information is private and does not impact my ability to work. Do you agree or disagree. Note: This information is not directly covered in the lesson. A student is asking for their opinion only. You should be looking for the student s ability to support their statement. I do not agree that my online information is private. Potential employers can make decisions based on my work ethic from information I choose to share. If I chose to make my personal information public, then a future employer should be able to look at it. It is my responsibility to be aware of what my online image is. Employers have the right to look at public information. Lesson 2: Labor Unions Scenario Rachel Smith is a nineteen year-old girl who is working on her GED. She currently lives at home but wants to move out on her own as soon as she has saved enough money. Rachel has been offered jobs at two grocery stores each about one mile from her home. They both want her to work a 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift. She has been interviewed by the managers at both stores and likes them equally. She must choose between the following offers: Job 1 The Red Squirrel is a small neighborhood store with 15 employees and no union. Jim Baker, the manager, has known Rachel all her life and knows she will be a good employee. Pay will start at $7.00 an hour. After one month, if everything goes smoothly, she will get three paid sick days per year and one week paid vacation. Jim has told her she will get a raise after the first year, the amount depending on how her performance on the job. She will get one half-hour paid lunch from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m ICCB and CAIT i-pathways.org 1

2 Job 2 Crown's Supermarket is part of a large chain and has 72 employees locally. The store is a "union shop," and Rachel must join the union to work there. Pay will start at $9.35 an hour with regular raises of 95 cents at the end of each year for the next three years. After a three-month probation period, she will get 6 sick days, 2 personal days and one week's paid vacation the first year. The length of paid vacation increases each year. Her lunch will be from 7:00-7:45 p.m. and she will get a ten minute coffee break twice: once at 4:30 p.m. and again at 9:00 p.m. Lunch and breaks are paid. If they need over time help, she will get paid $13.65 per hour if she chooses to work more than 40 hours a week. The Union will take $10.25 out of each week's paycheck as union dues. The biggest problem Rachel knows about is the current contract negotiation between the union and the store. The store has said publicly they can't afford a higher beginning salary and the union wants more pay for its members. The union has talked about striking if the store will not talk about more money, and the store has said they may have to close if they are forced to pay more in salaries. Rachel can start either job at the end of the week, but can't decide which job to take. Note: It is important that the student uses information from the text to support their answer. Rachel should take the second job opportunity working for Crown s Supermarket. Working in a union store will provide her with a higher starting wage and paid sick days. Additionally, she would get overtime pay. Although there is a problem between Crown s Supermarket and the union, Rachel can begin her job. If the store does close, then Rachel will at least have some work experience in this field and can perhaps get a job at the Red Squirrel. Lesson 3: Health Insurance Do you feel that requiring an individual to purchase health insurance can be something that the government regulates? Why or why not? While many people in this country do not agree with the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obama Care, I think that the government should require people to have health insurance. The government requires people to wear seat belts in their cars. This is the same thing. The rule is there for people s heath and best interest ICCB and CAIT i-pathways.org 2

3 Lesson 5: Payday Many people believe that Medicare is currently not a sustainable system for providing health insurance to senior citizens. Right now, a person who retires today receives a benefit between $2 and $6 for every $1 they put into the system. Yet for the younger population who are currently funding Medicare, 12 million children go without health insurance. Based on this information, write a paragraph for or against having Medicare funding taken out of your paycheck. I don t know if Medicare is going to be around when I am old enough to receive it. I don t mind paying for a future benefit but I agree with the politicians that say Medicare is not sustainable. I think that we need to come up with a better method of paying for the health care for senior citizens. Right now, the current system won t be around in 50 years and we have many children who lack the basic health care needs. Lesson 6: Transition to Higher Education Review the following scenario and identify at least three possible "realistic goals" for Rose. Type your response in the text box provided. When you complete the activity, select the submit icon and the activity will be placed in your portfolio for you and your teacher. Rose has attained her GED and wants to proceed in her career. She has thought about the medical profession but has no idea how to begin. What are some possible goals for FINDING OUT more about college and how to pursue opportunities in the medical profession? List 3 possible goals in the text box below using the above criteria for setting the goal. Remember the 5 W's. The 5 w s are: Who is involved? What do I want to accomplish? Where do I go to achieve this goal? When will this goal be established? Which requirements do I need to consider and Why do I want to do this? Rose needs to find out which colleges and programs are in her area. Once she has that information, she can schedule an appointment with a college representative. Once Rose meets with the staff member, Rose can ask what her options are. She can find answers to her questions. Rose should ask how long it will take to obtain the training and what the job market is like. Once she has answers to these questions, Rose can begin setting realistic and measurable goals ICCB and CAIT i-pathways.org 3

4 UNIT 2: TAXES Lesson 1: Government and Taxes Many consumers feel that federal income taxes are too high. If you were running for Congress, what things would you change about taxes and what would be the consequences of your changes? How could you convince voters that taxes are a necessity in our society? Taxes are too high. If I were running for Congress, I would make sure that working class people didn t have to pay as much taxes as rich people. I would charge the wealthy people the highest taxes so that we could continue to maintain all the services that are paid for through our taxing systems. Since the wealthier people are paying more taxes and the poor people are paying less in taxes, I don t think there would be any consequences for society. I think voters would like to know that they won t pay high taxes and the rich would pay their fair share. Lesson 2: Filing Federal Taxes What should you do if you owe taxes to make sure you don't owe the following year? When it comes to taxes, you don t want to owe money at the end of the year, but large refunds are given because the government took out too much money from your paycheck. If they do not take enough, you can owe a lot of money at the end of the year. When you see you are getting a large refund, you should talk to your boss and adjust how much money that is being taken out of the paycheck so that you are about even at the end of every year. Lesson 3: Filing State Taxes In the following text box, identify why state taxes are important. State taxes are important because they help pay for education, fire and police protection, roads, and libraries. They also pay for the state s national guard and other emergency services ICCB and CAIT i-pathways.org 4

5 UNIT 3: HOUSING Lesson 2: Insurance In this lesson you have explored risk management through insurance. Remember back to the beginning of this lesson when you first met Georgio. He passed his High School Equivalency test and got a job as an assistant manager at a Gas Mart. He moved into his own apartment, used his savings to purchase a computer, and took out a loan to buy furniture. He also purchased a reliable car in order to get back and forth to work so he has a car loan to repay. Although he makes a good salary, he doesn't have enough money left over to replenish his savings. In your opinion, should Georgio purchase insurance and if so what type(s)? Insurance is used to manage your financial risk. Ultimately, your goal is to protect yourself from loss. To protect Georgio from financial loss related to his purchase of furniture and other item like the computer, he needs property insurance. In addition to property insurance, Georgio should make sure his car insurance includes liability insurance. This type of insurance will protect Georgio from losses that he could inadvertently cost others. UNIT 4: TRANSPORTATION Lesson 1: Life Insurance Based on what you have learned, describe your ideal car. Would you prefer a used car or a new car? My ideal car is a used car with low mileage. I would like it to have a descent warranty to cover any potential problems for a while. I don t want a new car because they depreciate so quickly and cost so much more than a good quality used car. UNIT 5: INVESTING Lesson 1: Advertising and Decision Making Based on what you have learned, discuss weather Whole Life or Term Life insurance would be a better personal choice. For me, Term Life Insurance would be a better choice. I can have a policy that will pay out for my family for 30 years. By that time, my children will be grown and I won t need to worry about raising them. I don t want to pay for insurance for the rest of my life, so I wouldn t use Whole Life Insurance ICCB and CAIT i-pathways.org 5

6 UNIT 6: CONSUMER PROTECTIONS AND DECISION MAKING Lesson 1: Advertising and Decision Making Now that you are aware of various advertising methods, identify a time when you have been influenced by advertisements. I usually fall prey to advertising around the holiday season and see all the commercials for cooking items. Often, advertisers promote items that guarantee I will cook the best food ever and all I need is their magic pots, pans, and special tools. Lesson 3: Deception and Fraud In the text box, identify the steps you will use to protect yourself from being a victim of fraud. In order to protect myself from fraud, I will make sure I am familiar with many common scams such as bait-and-switch, phishing, pump and dump, and pyramid schemes. If an advertised item is not available, then I will suspect fraud and not purchase an item. Also, If I understand the laws that govern telemarketing, I will make sure I can assert my rights and not get scammed. Finally, I will protect my personal information such as credit card numbers so no one else can use them. Lesson 4: Rights and Responsibilities Think about the rights that have been given to you as a consumer. Identify how you will present a consumer complaint and your expectations for resolution. Before I can present a consumer complaint, I will need to gather all the important information. What did I purchase, an item or service? When did I purchase it? Who did I speak to? In order to even begin to resolve a consumer complaint, I need to be prepared with the relevant information. Secondly, I need to identify whom I need to speak to. Does the business have a consumer relations department? Once I have all the necessary information, I need to organize my thoughts about the complaint. When I speak to the customer services department, I will be able to clearly identify my concern with detailed information. As far as resolution, I would like think my money would be refunded. Lesson 5: Resolving a Consumer Complaint Describe how the following television ad is misleading: You see a woman in a white lab coat holding up a bottle of pills. She says, "Sneezless is great for allergies. Just two capsules provide 50 percent more relief than two other leading brands of allergy medication. Why not stop sneezing and enjoy the day?" 2014 ICCB and CAIT i-pathways.org 6

7 Note: This information to answer this question is in prior lessons, but it is designed to allow students to use all the information about how advertisements are used, how to resolve a consumer complaint, and understand their rights as a consumer. There are many versions of a correct answer. This advertisement is false and uses a method called puffery. Puffery is a seller s exaggerated opinion and it is not based on fact. Just because the advertisement says 50%, there is no basis for this number. As a consumer, I have the right to correct advertisement and if I am a victim of fraudulent advertising can follow through the steps of resolving a consumer complaint ICCB and CAIT i-pathways.org 7