Local schools use stock market to teach personal finance

By Tim Spitzack | Editor | September 2026

As students head back to school this fall, many will be dabbling in the stock market and learning firsthand what it feels like to strike it rich or lose it all. The investing is part of The Stock Market game, a tool teachers are using to help students learn how to manage money and build a solid financial future.

Minnesota law requires students in grades 10-12 to pass a course in personal finance to graduate. Legislators passed the law in 2023 after discovering that many students were graduating high school without knowing how to manage a checking account, build savings and good credit, avoid debt, and invest for retirement.

Rachel Baker, now entering her 13th year as a math teacher at Humboldt High School, is pleased that personal finance instruction is required. While she admits that math is not the most exciting subject for many students, the personal finance course she teaches is more popular because it offers real-life examples that resonate with youth who may be getting their first job and need to file a tax return or are buying a car or trying to figure out how to pay for college.

“It’s highly needed and important,” she said of the law. “There are some kids who know a lot about it [personal finance] and there are some who have no idea and are surprised by even basic things, like the difference between a debit card and a credit card. The underlying theme that I really like to push as a math teacher and someone who understands compound interest is the power of interest and what that looks like, in both good ways and bad ways.”

To drive home that point, she uses Investopedia, which offers a free investment simulator and other financial resources.

“We set the kids up with an [Investopedia] account at the beginning of the semester and give them all $100,000 [fake money to trade real stock] and use it as a way to talk about the difference between trading and investing, and how it [trading] can be so volatile and wild and can be like gambling in a lot of ways. Having them real-life invest and lose ten grand in a day gives them a feel for what it looks like if they open up a Robinhood account or something like that.” Robinhood is an online brokerage that is popular among young investors for its commission-free trading through a mobile app.

She contrasts stock trading with lessons on investing in a retirement account, such as a Roth IRA that can be opened at age 18, to show how interest makes money grow exponentially over time.

At St. Thomas Academy, a private Catholic prep school in Mendota Heights, economics teacher Dean Simmons takes it a step further by showing how investing not only helps the investor but can also benefit others. He was recently named the High School Economics Educator of the Year (grades 9-12) by the Minnesota Council on Economic Education, in part for his work on creating The Cadet Fund, an actively traded, real-dollar stock market portfolio managed by seniors in his investing class. The fund was established in 2017 with $17,000 in seed money and is now over $140,000. Distributions support grants for students needing tuition assistance, and other financial aid initiatives at the school.

“Finance is still kind of a pioneer area, particularly at the high school level, because you have to take sophisticated concepts and bring it down to a very basic level,” said Simmons. “We used to use the Stock Market game (investing with fake money) but I recognized the need to do something more realistic. When there’s real dollars involved it heightens the sense of what to do and not to do and to be a little more careful, and to think long-term. Personal finance isn’t all about investing, but clearly, it’s part of it – how to properly manage risk and how to diversify. We do other things to show how it affects access to funds and improving your credit score.”

South St. Paul Secondary principal Chuck Ochocki is supportive of the law and has seen first-hand how it helps students.
“I don’t think people talk about money at home that much and we find that our kids get in trouble with credit cards and things like that,” he said. “We’ve always had a personal finance class within our business department but had to expand it to meet the requirements of the state law. It’s a little more in-depth than it used to be. Our kids learn all about banking, retirement, savings, loans, they play the Stock Market game. They have zero understanding about all those concepts, but after they take this class, they are well-versed in them.”

Last year South St. Paul Secondary offered three personal finance classes throughout the year for students in grades 10-12. This year it will offer eight classes. Each is one trimester and students must receive a passing grade to meet the graduation requirement.

“We’re going to move it into being part of the 10th grade curriculum because that’s when most kids are getting jobs and we want them to have that base knowledge of how to use their money,” said Ochocki. “It’s a class that our kids do very well in because they find it interesting.”

Required curriculum
Under Minnesota law, public schools must provide instruction in the following areas:

Financial Psychology – Factors that influence financial decision-making and spending behaviors, and processes for making financial decisions.

Earning and Income – Employment and alternative types of income, understanding a paystub, and making informed financial decisions concerning post-high school plans.

Financial Systems – The types of financial institutions, products and services, and taxes.

Credit and Debt Management – The different types of credit and consumer debt, how one’s credit history affects finances, and the implications of personal bankruptcy.

Risk Management – Insurance and other risk management strategies to protect against financial loss, how insurance needs vary in different stages of life, methods to prevent identity theft and fraud, and consumer law.

Budgeting and Investing – How to identify short- and long-term financial goals and develop a budget, how taxation, inflation and other external circumstances affect a personal budget, and how to save and invest.

Learning at home
For parents wanting to reinforce financial literacy at home – or receive some refresher tips themselves – free resources are available. For example, the FDIC offers a “Money Smart for Young People” program that features four age-appropriate curricula that promote financial understanding for children and youth. Each component includes an educator guide, PowerPoint slides and real-life exercises and examples. While the material is packaged for a classroom format, components can be used to spark conversations between a parent and child.

PreK-grade 2 – Focuses on understanding currency, earning money, needs vs. wants, setting financial goals, saving and spending habits, and borrowing and lending.

Grades 3-5 – Explores buying decisions, budgeting, saving, understanding payment options (cash, credit, debit), investing, charitable giving, and careers and income.

Grades 6-8 – Addresses an introduction to taxes, smart shopping, cash flow and budgeting, the importance of saving, investing options, protecting your identity, financial risk and making wise financial decisions.

Grades 10-12 – Covers choosing a banking partner, understanding a paycheck, automobile purchases, risk management, insurance, college financing, home ownership, financial markets, retirement planning, estate planning and entrepreneurship.

The “Money Smart for Young People” program can be found at fdic.gov. It’s also available in Spanish.

Neighbors Inc., a local nonprofit that operates a food shelf, used clothing store and other social service programs, can also help. Over the past few years, it has been developing its financial empowerment program to help people gain control of their finances. Participants work alongside counselors to set goals, learn ways to bounce back from financial setbacks and build savings. Appointments are available in person, online or over the phone. To speak with a counselor, call 651-455-5000.

Take the 90-day challenge
A July 2025 report by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation shows U.S. adults are having a tougher time making ends meet and saving for emergencies. It found that the percentage of adults with enough money to cover three months’ worth of living expenses dropped to 46% from 53% in 2021, and the percentage who always pay their credit cards in full each month dropped to 53% from 59% in 2021. The study is conducted every three years. A 2026 Bankrate survey shows that less than half of Americans (47%) have savings to cover a $1,000 emergency expense.

Having a nest egg of savings is important to prevent future debt and build wealth – experts say a savings balance should cover 3-6 months of essential expenses. A key step in getting there is understanding your expenses and setting a budget, and this 90-day challenge will help. Review your last three months’ bank statements to determine which expenses are necessary (rent, utilities, groceries, etc.) and which aren’t (entertainment, dining out, membership fees for streaming services and gyms, etc.). You might just find that you have some fees deducted monthly for services that you forgot about or rarely or never use. Cancel unneeded services and divert that money to savings. Your bank statement also reveals your spending habits. For the next 90 days, shift as much money as possible from your non-critical expenses – that $5 cup of coffee; those $10 fast-food lunches – to your savings account and watch how much it grows. This will require some discipline and perhaps sacrifice but it will reduce your financial stress in the long run.

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