NAF Case Studies

Planning Your Financial Life (National Academy of Finance)

Chapter 2: Free Fall

Maritsa was a very busy high school student. On a typical day, she rushed from school to the Teen Suicide Prevention Center to volunteer for telephone duty for one hour. Then she dashed to her part-time job at the mall. She returned home in time for a quick dinner, and then bid her parents farewell as she headed for the monthly meeting of the school Committee for Environmental Protection. Exhausted, she reached home at the end of the evening, only then remembering she had forgotten to complete her homework assignment.

Tom was a very bored high school student. On his typical day he would take the bus home from school. Then he scrounged around the kitchen for a snack to munch on while he read his history assignment and finished his math homework. Next, he sauntered into the family room for his afternoon TV programs. After enjoying a leisurely meal with his family, he took the phone and retired to his room to call some friends, watch TV, and pass the remaining hours until he went to bed.

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How are Maritsa and Tom investing their free time? What is each student accomplishing as a result of that investment?