GameStop Teaching Resources

Last week was a flurry of news about GameStop, and one thing is for sure, there are a lot of kids talking about it. FinTech has made it easy for anyone to dive headfirst into the insanity of day trading, including our 18-year-old students. All of this hoopla runs contrary to what we know investing should feel like: a long boring process with compounding returns over time. 

Tim recently shared the lessons we should focus on with students in our Op-Ed on CNBC: Gamestop’s costly financial lesson for retail investors: 

• Highlight the difference between investing and speculation
• Teach about the dangers of day trading, penny stocks and options trading: Did you know that 97% of day traders lose money eventually?
• Describe the benefits of diversification that come from investing in index funds rather than individual stocks, using visualization of the S&P 500 like this one
• Demonstrate the challenges of trying to time the market with this game we developed.
• Explain those cognitive biases like overconfidence, which cloud investing judgment

Whether it is an interactive, a conversation following a FinCap Friday, or fielding questions from students, we need to be consistent. We should not celebrate kids who time the market well using classroom interactives, as it is clearly luck. We want to use this as an opportunity to bring to life the aforementioned lessons mentioned in our Op-Ed.

NGPF Arcade Game: Stax

This 20-minute investing game is designed to arouse the emotions of a day trader, creating stress and anxiety as students try to guess to beat the computer. The computer invests in the S&P 500 index fund. 

Over time, index funds will outperform actively managed funds and day traders, so be sure not to celebrate the students who beat the computer, rather challenge them to do it again. Remind students that their money will work for them when they are investing for retirement the right way rather than anxiously gambling each day to time the market.

A 15 minute Primer: GameStop with Yanely and Tim 

The perfect way to quickly brush up on what all the hoopla is about while driving to school or going for a walk with this audio resource. 

FinCap Friday: Until the Game Stops

An excellent hook to start a classroom discussion about the GameStop frenzy; includes an explainer video, quiz game and discussion prompts. Most popular FinCap Friday to date! 

Betterment: Market Timing Simulation

• You start with $10,000.
• You choose whether to invest in a diversified portfolio or cash for a randomly selected 6 months.
• We'll show you a real New York Times headline from the first day of the 6-month period.
• The diversified portfolio is 70% stocks and 30% bonds. 
• After the round concludes, click “Next Random Period”

Upcoming Professional Development 

• Virtual PD: GameStop: Teaching Moment About Investing Pitfalls (1.5 hours)
• On-Demand: Investing for Beginners
• NGPF Certification course (sign-ups end on Friday 2/5): Behavioral Finance
• NGPF Certification Course (sign-ups end on Friday 2/5): Investing

About the Author

Brian Page

Making a difference in the lives of students through financial capability is Brian’s greatest passion. He comes to NGPF after fifteen years of public school teaching where he was the ‘11 Ohio Department of Education recipient of a Milken National Educator Award, the CEE Forbes Award winner, and a Money Magazine/CNN "Money Hero". He served on the working group for President Obama's Advisory Council on Financial Capability. He has private school experience as a Trustee for the Cincinnati Country Day School and was a past Ohio Jump$tart President. Brian holds a BBA and M.Ed. When Brian isn’t working alongside his NGPF teammates he is likely spending time with his wife, three children, and dog; hiking, or watching Ohio State football.

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