Part of the US State Curriculum Alignment series.
A three-book US financial-literacy workbook series by Michael McCracken: Book 1 — The Money Starter Pack (foundations; suggested Grades 6–9), Book 2 — The Grind (paychecks, taxes, credit, investing; Grades 9–12), Book 3 — Endgame (advanced planning; senior grades and adult). Print workbooks, 8.5×11, greyscale, with write-in activities throughout. Book 2 is the closest single-volume match to the half-credit course; Book 1 covers earning, spending, budgeting and credit and Book 3 extends investing, insurance and tax.
Michigan requires a half credit of personal finance under PA 165 of 2022, MCL 380.1278a(3), for students entering grade 8 in 2023 and later, first affecting the graduating class of 2028. The credit does not add to the 18-credit diploma: it substitutes for half of the fourth mathematics credit, half of the arts credit or half of the world language credit. The Personal Finance 9-12 Content Expectations, version 5/2023, set out seven strands.
How The Money Skill Tree maps to the Michigan curriculum
| Content expectation | Coverage in The Money Skill Tree (US Edition) |
|---|---|
| PF1 Earning Income | B2 Ch 1 (gross vs. net, W-4, W-2, I-9, the pay stub line by line, tips, commission, piecework and gig income, benefits as pay), B1 Ch 4 (generating your own income, setting a rate), B2 Ch 12 (education cost against likely earnings), B3 Ch 4 (total compensation, market data, negotiating). Non-income career factors are addressed in B3 Ch 4 and B2 Ch 12. |
| PF2 Buying Goods and Services | B1 Ch 3 (the Filter, needs vs. wants, the marketing maze, the checkout ambush, cost-per-use, unit pricing), B1 Ch 9 (the 50/30/20 flight path, the rule of displacement, the sunk cost trap), B1 Ch 2 (payment methods, subscription traps, dynamic pricing). Government's role in providing consumer information is thin: B2 Ch 13 covers fraud reporting, not information provision. |
| PF3 Budgeting and Saving | B1 Ch 6 (checking vs. savings, HYSA, goal-based tiers, psychological savings hacks), B1 Ch 7 (simple vs. compound interest, the three engines of compounding, the Rule of 72, the cost of waiting), B1 Ch 8 (inflation eroding savings), B1 Ch 9 (the budget itself), B2 Ch 7 (the 3–6 month rule), B2 Ch 8 (automatic transfers, pay yourself first). |
| PF4 Using Credit | B1 Ch 10 (the impatience tax, strategic debt, predatory traps, BNPL, the reputation meter, snowball vs. avalanche, the Interest Leak calculator), B2 Ch 6 (the three bureaus, FICO vs. VantageScore, the five factors, building credit from zero, using a card with discipline, the true cost of a carried balance, hard vs. soft pulls, freezes, the free annual report). |
| PF4.1 FAFSA, student loans, scholarships, work study and grants | B2 Ch 12 in full: FAFSA, the four federal loan types, private loans, interest and total cost, repayment plans, refinancing, grace periods, the net price calculator, working through college, community college transfer and apprenticeship paths. 529 plans and Coverdell ESAs sit in the same chapter. |
| PF5 Financial Investing | B2 Ch 9 (capital gains, dividends, diversification, how to buy a stock, account types, dollar-cost averaging, DRIP), B2 Ch 10 (ETFs, mutual funds, index investing, the major US indexes, expense ratios, international exposure and currency risk), B2 Ch 11 (risk and expected return, the age rule, rebalancing, sequence risk), B2 Ch 3–4 (tax benefits of Roth, 401(k) and HSA), B1 Ch 8 (inflation and real returns). |
| PF6 Protecting and Insuring | B3 Ch 6 in full (health, auto, renters, homeowners, term vs. whole life, disability, umbrella; accept, reduce or transfer risk; premiums, deductibles, limits, exclusions), B2 Ch 13 (identity protection, scams, 2FA, the 24-hour response), B2 Ch 7 (the emergency buffer as risk retention). |
| PF7 Paying Taxes | B2 Ch 2 (federal income tax, FICA, state and local, where the money goes, take-home pay), B2 Ch 1 (withholding and the W-4), B2 Ch 5 (Form 1040 page by page, filing thresholds, state returns, 1040-X, payment plans), B3 Ch 3 (standard deduction vs. itemising, credits, capital gains), B1 Ch 11 (the IRS and what taxes fund), B3 Ch 5 (Schedule C and quarterly estimated tax). |
B1 = Book 1 (The Money Starter Pack) · B2 = Book 2 (The Grind) · B3 = Book 3 (Endgame) · “Ch” = chapter.
Instructional features
Every chapter closes with a hands-on Skill Quest and an Elite Quest (write-in worksheets), a Guild Chat discussion prompt, and a Summary Checklist, so each standard below has an assessable classroom activity attached to it, not only a reading.
Gaps to note
Michigan's document is unusually coarse — seven strand-level expectations and a single sub-expectation, PF4.1 — so the mapping is strong throughout and there is no meaningful content gap. The one soft spot is the government information-provision clause in PF2, where the series teaches fraud avoidance rather than the consumer information agencies provide.
Verification note
The Michigan document does not use a two-level PFx.y grid: there are eight codes in total, PF1 to PF7 plus PF4.1. Do not cite expectations such as PF1.2 or PF3.1, and disregard the six-strand draft shown in the April 2023 State Board presentation.
Curriculum source
Curriculum source: Michigan Merit Curriculum, Personal Finance 9-12 Content Expectations, v5/2023 — michigan.gov/mde/services/academic-standards/personal-finance · PA 165 of 2022
Prepared August 2026 · moneyskilltree.com · Standards references should be verified against current state documents at time of adoption.
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