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-unit course; Book 1 carries the responsibility, planning and consumer statements and Book 3 the investing and insurance ones.
Ohio requires a half unit in financial literacy for graduation for students entering grade 9 on or after 1 July 2022, first affecting the graduating class of 2026, under ORC §3313.603. Ohio's Learning Standards for Financial Literacy were adopted in 2018 and the high school section was revised in July 2025, adding a seventh topic, Free Market Capitalism, and renumbering the content statements. Statements run continuously 1 to 26 across the seven topics.
How The Money Skill Tree maps to the Ohio curriculum
| Content statement (High School) | Coverage in The Money Skill Tree (US Edition) |
|---|---|
| FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND DECISION-MAKING Statements 1–5 | |
| 1–2 Accountability for managing money; control over earning and skills | B1 Ch 1 (money as stored energy, the life battery audit), B1 Ch 4 (the Generator: identifying needs, reputation, pricing your work), B2 Ch 14 (the long game). |
| 3 Weighing education, employment and military options | B2 Ch 12 (postsecondary cost, the decision tree, community college transfer, apprenticeship, trade and military paths), B3 Ch 4 (career and compensation). |
| 4 Income sources: employment, entrepreneurship, investments, government payments | B2 Ch 1 (wages, tips, commission, gig income), B1 Ch 4 (self-employment), B2 Ch 9 (dividends and capital gains), B1 Ch 11 (Social Security), B3 Ch 5 (business income). |
| 5 Deductions that reduce net pay | B2 Ch 1 (the pay stub line by line, pre-tax vs. post-tax) and B2 Ch 2 (federal income tax, FICA, state and local, "your real take-home"). |
| PLANNING AND MONEY MANAGEMENT Statements 6–8 | |
| 6 Developing a personal budget and adhering to it | B1 Ch 9 in full: the 50/30/20 flight path, the rule of displacement, budgeting tools, the emergency budget protocol, the seven-day logbook. B2 Ch 8 automates it. |
| 7 Planned purchasing including indirect costs | B1 Ch 3 (the checkout ambush: the price tag is not the price; cost-per-use; unit pricing), B1 Ch 2 (subscription traps and dynamic pricing). |
| 8 Planning for and paying local, state and federal taxes | B2 Ch 2 (the three deductions plus local), B2 Ch 5 (filing a 1040 and a state return, extensions, payment plans), B3 Ch 5 (quarterly estimated tax). |
| INFORMED CONSUMER Statements 9–12 | |
| 9 Political features of the free market: property rights, contracts, patents, market failure | Not covered. B3 Ch 5 treats contracts and business structure in a practical rather than an economic frame. |
| 10 Understanding financial documents, lending terms and contractual obligations | B2 Ch 1 (pay stub and forms), B2 Ch 6 (card terms and APR), B1 Ch 10 (the Fine Print Detective quest), B3 Ch 2 (mortgage terms and points), B3 Ch 6 (policy exclusions). |
| 11 Products and services offered by financial institutions | B1 Ch 5 (big banks, credit unions, online-only banks, FDIC coverage), B1 Ch 6 (checking, savings, HYSA), B2 Ch 3–4 (retirement accounts), B2 Ch 9 (brokerage accounts). |
| 12 Consumer advocates, organisations and protection laws | Partial. B2 Ch 13 covers fraud reporting and recovery and B1 Ch 11 covers the federal agencies. Named consumer protection statutes are not cited. |
| INVESTING Statements 13–16 | |
| 13 Private capital ownership: proprietorships, corporations, banks, investor groups | B3 Ch 5 (sole proprietorship, LLC, S-corp election) and B2 Ch 9 (buying a share of a public company). Private investor groups are not covered. |
| 14 Wealth creation: investments, appreciation and depreciation, equity, markets | B2 Ch 9–10 (capital gains, dividends, ETFs, index funds, the major US indexes), B1 Ch 8 (depreciation and appreciation), B3 Ch 1 (home equity and appreciation). |
| 15 Investment strategy: diversification, risk tolerance, fees, tax implications | B2 Ch 10 (expense ratios in dollar terms), B2 Ch 11 (risk capacity vs. tolerance, the age rule, rebalancing, sequence risk), B2 Ch 3–4 (pre-tax vs. post-tax, the order of operations), B3 Ch 3 (capital gains and the wash sale rule). |
| 16 Government regulation of financial services providers | Partial. B1 Ch 5 and Ch 11 cover the FDIC and the federal agencies. Securities regulators are named only in passing. |
| CREDIT AND DEBT Statements 17–18 | |
| 17 Credit as a contract to receive value now and repay later | B1 Ch 10 (the impatience tax, strategic debt, predatory traps, BNPL) and B2 Ch 6 (how a card works, the true cost of a carried balance). |
| 18 Balancing credit and debt to meet goals and build wealth | B1 Ch 10 (the Freedom Strategy, snowball vs. avalanche, the Interest Leak), B2 Ch 6 (the five factors and the credit forecast), B3 Ch 2 (mortgage debt as leverage), B2 Ch 12 (student loan repayment). |
| RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCE Statements 19–21 | |
| 19 A risk management plan protecting assets and income | B3 Ch 6 (insure income before objects, right-sizing coverage), B2 Ch 7 (the emergency buffer as the first line of defence). |
| 20 Responsibility to protect identity and personal information | B2 Ch 13 in full (identity theft, phishing, smishing and vishing, 2FA, the 24-hour response), B1 Ch 5 (account security), B2 Ch 6 (credit freezes). |
| 21 A comprehensive insurance strategy as a safeguard | B3 Ch 6 in full: health, auto, renters, homeowners, term vs. whole life, disability and umbrella, with premiums, deductibles, limits and exclusions. |
| FREE MARKET CAPITALISM Statements 22–26, added in the July 2025 revision | |
| 22–26 Factors of production, entrepreneurship and innovation, global markets, profit motive, externalities | Not covered. This topic is new in the July 2025 revision and the series has no economics content answering it. B1 Ch 4 and B3 Ch 5 supply entrepreneurship in practice but not the market theory the statements ask for. |
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
The July 2025 revision is the problem: Free Market Capitalism (statements 22–26) and the free-market features in statement 9 are economics content the series does not carry, and statement 13's private investor groups and statement 16's securities regulators are thin. Everything from statement 1 to 21 apart from those maps cleanly. Ohio should be pitched as covering the personal finance body of the course.
Verification note
Ohio renumbered when Free Market Capitalism was added in July 2025, and the statement numbers are not stable across revisions. This document maps the July 2025 edition; cite it by date wherever these numbers are used.
Curriculum source
Curriculum source: Ohio's Learning Standards for Financial Literacy, High School, revised July 2025 — education.ohio.gov · ORC §3313.603 · companion model curriculum also revised July 2025
Prepared August 2026 · moneyskilltree.com · Standards references should be verified against current state documents at time of adoption.
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