The BBB
This independent agency insures your bank deposits up to $250,000 per account.
Bonus $100 for the formal name.
What is the FDIC?
This is the "Invisible Thief." If you keep all your money under a mattress for 40 years, this guy will make sure that your $100 bill only buys you a stick of gum by the time you're old.
What is Inflation?
From the Latin word for "trust," it’s the financial "time machine" that allows you to walk out of a store with a TV today in exchange for a pinky-promise to pay for it (plus interest) later.
What is Credit?
Think of this like your "Subscription Fee" for protection; you pay it every month just to keep your insurance policy from ghosting you.
What is a Premium?
This is the most dreaded day on the calendar (unless it falls on a weekend). It’s the official deadline to tell the government how much you made and how much you owe.
What is April 15th?
Financial experts recommend saving 3 to 6 months of living expenses in this specific "just in case" fund.
Emergency Fund
In this specific type of retirement account, you pay taxes on the money before you put it in, allowing your withdrawals to be tax-free after age 591/2. It's great if you are young and expecting a lot of growth.
What is a Roth IRA?
The more of this that you bring to the table the less you have borrow.
What is a down payment?
If you’re a tenant, this insurance is a total "no-brainer." It covers your stuff if the apartment floods, because your landlord’s insurance only cares about the walls, not your PS5.
What is Renters Insurance?
You’ll find this mysterious "FICA" guy taking a bite out of every single paycheck. He’s actually collecting money for these two federal programs that support the elderly and disabled.
What are Social Security and Medicare?
Bonus: Stand up with your hands up and shout out the type of spending this is for a bonus $500
This life value is concerned with health, comfort, and aesthetics.
What is the physical value?
This is the shortcut formula used to estimate how many years it will take for an investment to double in value at a fixed annual interest rate.
What is the Rule of 72?
This 3-digit number is basically your adult GPA; if it's low, you're living in your parents' basement, and if it's high, you're getting the "VIP" interest rates.
What is a Credit Score?
Bonus: stand up with your hands up and call out the range of a credit score. Get it wrong and loose a $100.
This is your "Skin in the Game." It’s the chunk of money you have to cough up for a car repair before the insurance company pays a single dime.
What is a Deductible?
When you start a new job, you fill out this form to tell your boss how much money to "withhold" for taxes. If you put "0," your paycheck will be smaller, but your refund might be bigger!
What is a W-4?
Unlike a bank, this member-owned financial institution is "not-for-profit."
What is a Credit Union?
This "golden rule" of investing involves spreading your money across different types of investments to reduce overall risk.
What is Diversification?
When it comes to choosing a term, it is always better to go with the shortest ___________ term. (this budget friendly "a" adjective)
What is affordable?
This specific type of auto coverage is for when life gets weird—like a tree falling on your car.
What is Comprehensive Coverage?
This is the "Participation Trophy" of the tax world. Most people take this flat-dollar reduction to their taxable income instead of "itemizing" every single receipt for stamps and charity.
What is the Standard Deduction?
When you keep eating a bad meal just because you already paid for it, you are falling victim to this "fallacy."
What is the Sunk Cost Fallacy?
This term is the "Finish Line" of your investment marathon. If you’re 18 and saving for retirement, yours is long; if you’re 64 and want to buy a yacht next Tuesday, yours is dangerously short.
What is a Time Horizon?
It’s the "cold, hard logic" of debt payoff: instead of chasing small wins, you go for the jugular by burying the debt with the _____________ first.
What is the highest interest rate?
If you have an HDHP, you’re eligible for this "Triple Tax-Advantaged" savings account. If you contribute $3,000 to it this year, you lower your taxable income by $3,000, it grows tax-free, and you pay zero taxes when you take it out to pay for your wisdom teeth removal.
What is a Health Savings Account (HSA)?
Bonus: stand up with your hands up, and say what an HDHP stands for and get a $500 bonus
People often celebrate getting a massive one of these in the spring, but financial experts call it an "interest-free loan" you gave to the government all year.
What is a Tax Refund?
This "liquid" type of account usually pays higher interest than a standard savings account but may require a higher minimum balance. (MMA)
What is a Money Market Account?
A feature of the "NextGen Domestic Equity 2067"
Each additional feature is worth $500
Type, Location, Time Horizon, Risk Tolerance
What is a long term, high risk, target date fund invested in U.S. companies?
It's the slow, painful process of killing off a loan, where early payments are mostly interest and almost none of the principal--how romantic!
What is Amortization?
After you’ve already paid your deductible, this "percentage-based" cost-sharing kicks in. It’s the portion of the bill you still have to pay (commonly 20%) while the insurance company covers the rest (the other 80%) until you hit your out-of-pocket maximum.
What is Co-insurance?
Daily Double: Write your wager with your answer. Get it right, double your money. Get it wrong and lose it all.
Uncle Sam uses this "Progressive" system, meaning only the last dollars you earn are taxed at the highest rate, not your entire income. If you move into a higher bracket, you don't actually take home less money! It's the __________ Tax Rate (pink line down the side of your paper plus a couple letters)
What is a marginal tax rate?
50/30/20: The amount in your 5 month emergency fund if your net income is $4,400 and the number of months it'd take you to save that much.
What is $11,000 and 25 months?
You’ve decided that your "dream retired life" (filled with high-end yarn and fancy cheeses) requires an monthly income of $6,500. Using the 4% Rule, this is the total "Nest Egg" amount you need to have saved up before you can officially tell your boss "Goodbye forever."
What is 1,950,000?
This is the balance of your new credit card, offering a 6 month 0% intro APR, if the balance transfer fee is 3% and your old credit card balance was $4,000?
What is $4,120?
Scenario: You have a $1,000 deductible and 20% co-insurance.
The Bill: You get a $5,000 hospital bill.
You Pay: $________
What is $1,800?
You have a Taxable Income of $20,000. The 2025 Brackets state that you pay 10% on the first $11,925 and 12% on anything above that. Calculate your total tax bill (rounded to the nearest dollar).
What is $2,162?
Bonus: Stand up with your hand up and shout the 2025 standard deduction for a bonus $500