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9th Grade — Money & Business

First payslip, investment accounts, and whether a career is worth its cost.

Ages 14–15

The one idea

Every career is an investment — you pay time and money up front and get paid back over decades.

Fourteen and fifteen year olds are close enough to a first job that payslip deductions and investment accounts stop being theoretical.

📚 The 6 lessons🧠 Money check🤔 What would you do?🧮 Work it out🫙 Allowance calculator

The six 9th Grade money lessons

One per pillar. Each has what to teach, a ten-minute thing to do, and the exact words you can say — so you can start right now without preparing anything.

💼 Earn

Reading a payslip

A payslip lists gross pay, then every deduction, then net pay. Most people never read theirs and never notice the errors. Learn the lines once and you'll check it in thirty seconds forever.

One month of Amara's payslip, read line by line.
  • Gross pay$2,700
  • Income tax$310
  • Social Security & Medicare$207
  • Benefit she never used$45
  • Take-home$2,138

The $45 is money leaving for nothing. The bigger number is not on this list at all: contributing 4% would have brought a $108 employer match with it, every single month.

Do this

Find a sample payslip and identify every line: gross, income tax, social security, pension, net.

Say this

"What are all these deductions? Which ones are optional, and which are you legally required to pay?"

A story

The line Amara had never read

Amara had been paid for eight months before she read a payslip properly. She found a line she didn't recognise taking $45 a month — a benefit she had opted into on day one and never used. She also found that her employer was matching pension contributions up to 4%, and she was contributing 0%. That second line was worth about $1,300 a year she had been declining.

Which line cost her more — the $45 or the 0%?

The 0%, by a long way. Employer matching is the only place anyone will ever hand you a guaranteed 100% return, and it is turned off by default.

The usual mistake

Never reading the payslip because the total looks about right. The expensive things are lines you have never noticed, in both directions.

The fix

Read every line once, out loud, with someone. Ask what each one is and whether the employer matches anything.

🏦 Save

Where savings should actually live

Money you need this month belongs in a current account. Money for the next few years belongs in high-interest savings. Money you won't touch for ten years belongs invested. Matching the timeline to the account is most of the skill.

Typical rates by account type. These move — look up today's before deciding.
  • Everyday checking0.1%

    For this month's money. Not a home for savings.

  • High-yield savings4.5%

    For the emergency fund. Reachable in a day.

  • Bonds5%

    For money needed in a few years

  • Whole-market stock fund10%

    For 10+ years only. Falls hard some years.

None of these is best. Each one is best for a different deadline, and the deadline is the thing you decide first.

Do this

Split their savings into three buckets by when they'll need it, and pick the right home for each.

Say this

"When do you need this money? That single answer decides where it should sit."

A story

Three piles, three jobs

Tomas had $9,000 in one savings account earning almost nothing, and felt vaguely responsible. His aunt asked him three questions: what's next month's money, what's the emergency money, and what's the money you won't touch for ten years? He split it into three, and the ten-year pile — $5,000 of it — went somewhere it could actually grow.

Why is one big safe pile the wrong answer?

Because different deadlines need different accounts. Money for next month must not fall in value. Money for ten years must not sit still. One pile has to fail one of those jobs.

The usual mistake

Optimising the whole balance for safety. It feels responsible and quietly guarantees the long-term money loses to inflation.

The fix

Sort by deadline first, then pick the account. The deadline chooses the account, never the other way round.

🛒 Spend

Big purchases and total cost

A car isn't its sticker price. It's insurance, fuel, tax, repairs, and depreciation. The purchase price is often less than half of what it really costs to own over a few years.

Dev's $4,000 car, over five years.
  • The price on the windscreen$4,000
  • Insurance — 5 years$7,000
  • Fuel — 5 years$6,000
  • Tax, servicing and repairs$4,000
  • What the car actually cost$21,000

The sticker was 19% of the real price. That ratio is normal, and almost nobody works it out first.

Do this

Price the full first-year cost of owning a cheap used car. Compare it to the sticker price.

Say this

"The car is $3,000. What does the first year of actually owning it cost?"

A story

The $4,000 car that cost $21,000

Dev found a car for $4,000 and had exactly $4,000. His uncle made him add up a year of running it before he bought: insurance, fuel, tax, and a repair fund for a car that age. It came to about $3,400 a year. Over five years the $4,000 car was going to cost him around $21,000, and he had budgeted for none of it.

What was the actual price of the car?

The sticker was the deposit on a five-year commitment. Anything with running costs is priced per year, not per purchase — and nobody puts that number on the windscreen.

The usual mistake

Budgeting for the purchase price of things that keep costing money. Cars, pets, phones on contracts, gym memberships, houses.

The fix

Write the total five-year cost before buying anything with running costs. Buy it anyway if you want — but buy it knowing.

💝 Give

Giving with leverage

Employers often match charitable giving. Some donations are tax-deductible. Organising other people to give multiplies your own contribution. Giving strategically does several times more than giving impulsively.

Ines's $500, given two ways.

Straight donation

$500

Useful, and that is where it ends.

✓ Better deal

Offered as a match

$6,000 raised

Same $500, plus about $5,500 from people who now had a deadline.

Her money never changed. What changed was that it gave other people a reason to act this month.

Do this

Research one matched-giving programme and work out what $100 would actually become.

Say this

"Your $100 could be $200 if someone matches it. Is it worth ten minutes to find out?"

A story

The $500 that raised $6,000

Ines had $500 to give to her school's music programme. Instead of donating it, she offered it as a match: every dollar anyone else gave that month, she would match up to $500. The match gave everyone else a reason to give now rather than eventually. The month brought in about $5,500 from other people, and then her $500 on top.

Did the matching change how much Ines gave?

Not by a cent. It changed what her $500 did — it stopped being a donation and became a reason for other people to act.

The usual mistake

Assuming your giving is only as big as your bank balance. At small amounts, how you give often matters more than how much.

The fix

Ask what your amount could unlock rather than what it could buy: a match, the first gift, the thing that makes a grant possible.

📈 Grow

Investment accounts and why time matters most

$200 a month from age 20 at 7% is roughly $500,000 by 60. Starting at 30 instead gets you roughly half that — for only a third less money invested. The missing years matter more than the missing dollars.

$200 a month at 7%, both stopping at sixty.
  • Idris — put in from 30$72,000

    30 years of contributions

  • Idris — ended with$244,000
  • Zara — put in from 20$96,000

    Only $24,000 more than Idris

  • Zara — ended with$525,000

    $281,000 more, from ten extra years

$24,000 more in, $281,000 more out. Time did that, not skill and not the amount.

Do this

Run both scenarios in a compound interest calculator. Write down the difference.

Say this

"You invested a third less and ended with half as much. Where did the rest go?"

A story

Two savers, ten years apart

Zara started putting $200 a month into an index fund at twenty and stopped worrying about it. Her brother Idris started the identical thing at thirty. Both kept going until sixty. Idris put in $72,000 and ended with about $244,000. Zara put in $96,000 — only $24,000 more — and ended with about $525,000.

Where did the extra $281,000 come from?

From the first ten years, which had forty years to compound instead of thirty. The money you invest youngest is the money that does the most work, by an enormous margin.

The usual mistake

"I'll start when I earn more." The amount is the small variable. The number of years is the big one, and it only ever goes down.

The fix

Start with an amount that is almost embarrassing. $50 a month at twenty beats $200 a month at thirty-five, and it is the years doing that.

🧠 Mindset

Career return on investment

Treat a career path like an investment: what does the training cost in money and years, what does it pay, and how long until you're ahead? Some expensive paths pay back fast; some cheap ones never do.

Both paths, totalled up at age 28.

4-year degree, $60,000

+$252,000

6 years earning $52,000, minus $60,000 of cost.

✓ Better deal

2-year course, $14,000

+$338,000

8 years earning $44,000, minus $14,000 of cost.

At 28 the shorter path is ahead. Whether it still is at 40 depends entirely on the career — which is the real question to go and research.

Do this

Pick three careers. For each, find the training cost, the typical starting pay, and the break-even year.

Say this

"That path costs four years and $40,000. When exactly are you ahead compared to starting work now?"

A story

Two courses, run as a sum

Marcus was choosing between a four-year degree costing $60,000 that led to jobs starting around $52,000, and a two-year technical course costing $14,000 leading to jobs starting around $44,000. He worked out where he'd be at twenty-eight on each path, including the two extra years of earning on the shorter one. The gap was much smaller than anyone had told him.

Does this mean the degree is wrong?

No — some careers have no other door, and salaries diverge later. It means the decision should be made with the arithmetic in front of you rather than with a slogan.

The usual mistake

Treating education as beyond arithmetic. It is one of the largest purchases of your life and it deserves the same sums as a car.

The fix

Work out the cost, the years, the starting salary, and where you stand at twenty-eight on each path. Then choose on more than the number.

The 9th Grade Money Check

8 questions. You get the reasoning either way — being wrong is where the learning is.

0/8
  1. 1

    Gross $2,000, deductions $400. What's net pay?

  2. 2

    Money you need in 2 months should sit where?

  3. 3

    A used car costs $3,000. What's the real first-year cost?

  4. 4

    Investing $200/month from 20 vs from 30, at 7%. Roughly?

  5. 5

    Your employer matches pension contributions 1:1. What is that?

  6. 6

    Training costs 4 years and $40,000, and adds $15,000/year. Break-even?

  7. 7

    Why check whether a donation can be matched?

  8. 8

    Which is liquid?

What would you do?

Three situations a 9th grade child really does run into. There is no silly option here — every one of them is something a reasonable person would pick.

1

Your employer matches pension contributions up to 4% of your salary. You currently contribute 0%.

2

You have $4,000 and you've found a car for exactly $4,000.

3

You're 20 and can invest $50 a month, or wait until you're earning properly at 30 and invest $200.

Work it out

0/4 checked

Real 9th grade money maths. Work it out first — the button shows how it was done, not just the answer.

  1. 1

    Your salary is $2,700/month and your employer matches pension contributions up to 4%. What are you giving up by contributing 0%?

  2. 2

    A $4,000 car costs $1,400 insurance, $1,200 fuel and $800 tax and repairs each year. Total over 5 years?

  3. 3

    The rule of 72: at 6% a year, roughly how long does money take to double?

  4. 4

    You put $500 into a fund that averages 7%. Roughly what is it at 24 years, using the rule of 72?

The Four Jars

Move the sliders and watch what each jar becomes. Only the Grow jar is invested, so only Grow compounds — that is the whole reason the numbers separate.

$
20% · $5.00/week

$260 a year → $2,600 after 10 years

30% · $7.50/week

$390 a year → $3,900 after 10 years

10% · $2.50/week

$130 a year → $1,300 after 10 years

40% · $10.00/week

$520 a year → $7,687 after 10 years

Look ahead:

You put in

$13,000

You end up with

$15,487

Grew on its own

+$2,487

That extra $2,487 is money nobody worked for. It came from the Grow jar earning 7% a year on a balance that keeps getting bigger.

For parents: About $25 a week, or replace it entirely with earnings from real work. If they have a job, shift to matching their investing instead.

The 7% is a rough long-run stock market average used for illustration. Real returns vary, some years are negative, and nothing here is investment advice.

The words they need this year

Defined the way a 9th grade child would explain them — not the way a bank would.

Payslip
The document showing what you earned and what was deducted.
Like: Gross $2,000, deductions $400, net $1,600.
Deduction
Money taken out before you're paid.
Like: Income tax, social security, pension.
Depreciation
How much value something loses over time.
Like: A new car loses roughly 20% in its first year.
Liquidity
How quickly you can turn it into spendable cash.
Like: Cash is liquid; a house is not.
ROI
Return on investment — what you got back versus what you put in.
Like: $40,000 of training that adds $15,000 a year.
Employer match
Money your employer adds when you contribute.
Like: You put in $100, they add $100.
📜 This actually happened

The rule of 72

Divide 72 by an interest rate and you get, near enough, the number of years for money to double. At 6% it is 12 years; at 8%, 9 years; at 2%, 36. It is a shortcut for a logarithm, it has been used since at least the fifteenth century, and it is accurate enough for anything under about 20%.

It turns any rate into a number of years while the conversation is still happening — which is exactly when you need it.

This week's mission

The Career Maths

They compare three real paths on cost, pay, and break-even year — before anyone asks them to choose.

⏱️ 90 minutesInternet accessA spreadsheet or paper
  1. 1Pick three careers they'd genuinely consider.
  2. 2For each, find: training cost, years of training, typical starting pay, typical pay after ten years.
  3. 3Work out the total cost of training, including years not earning.
  4. 4Calculate how many working years until each one breaks even.
  5. 5Write one paragraph on which surprised you and why.
🚀 Starter business

The Paid Skill

"I do this professionally, and here are three clients who'll say so."

What it costs to start

$0 — the investment is hours of learning

What to charge

Start slightly below market to get the first three clients, then raise to market once you have testimonials.

  1. 1Pick one marketable skill: editing, design, tutoring, coding, photography.
  2. 2Do three jobs cheap or free purely to get proof and testimonials.
  3. 3Build a simple portfolio page showing only real work.
  4. 4Raise your rate to market and stop apologising for it.
  5. 5Track hourly rate over time and treat it as the number that matters.

The business lesson underneath

Your rate is set by proof, not by hours worked. Three testimonials are worth more than three months of practice.

Four questions to ask this week

No printing, no materials, no lesson. Ask one at dinner and let the answer go wherever it goes — most of what children learn about money they overhear.

  • 1"Read me every line on this payslip." Then ask what each one is actually for.
  • 2"What does this cost per year to own?" Ask it about the car, the phone, the pet, the subscription.
  • 3"Rule of 72 — how long to double at this rate?" Use it on any rate anyone mentions this week.
  • 4"What would happen if you started at 20 instead of 30?" Do the sum together rather than describing it.

Three habits that matter at this age

The money lessons only stick if these are running underneath them.

Read every payslip

Errors happen and go unnoticed for years. Thirty seconds a month is a genuinely worthwhile check.

Match the account to the timeline

When you need it decides where it belongs. This one rule prevents both stranded cash and forced selling at a loss.

Do the ROI maths before committing

Before any expensive path — a course, a car, a venture — write the cost, the return, and the break-even year.

By the end of 9th Grade

Tick these off through the year. If one is still open in June, that's the lesson to go back to.

  • Reads a payslip and identifies every deduction
  • Places savings in the right account for the timeline
  • Calculates total cost of ownership, not just purchase price
  • Explains why starting to invest early beats investing more later
  • Calculates break-even for a career or training path
  • Charges a real market rate for a real skill

Want the written practice too?

Everything on this page is free and always will be. If you want structured worksheets to go alongside it, the 9th Grade packs cover the whole year across maths, reading and writing, and study skills.

9th Grade Packs

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8th Grade

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10th Grade

See all 12 grades

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a 9th Grade child understand about money?

Every career is an investment — you pay time and money up front and get paid back over decades. Concretely: reads a payslip and identifies every deduction; places savings in the right account for the timeline; calculates total cost of ownership, not just purchase price. The six lessons on this page cover each of those, and the money check tells you which ones have landed.

How much allowance should a 9th Grade child get?

Around $25 a week is a reasonable starting point at ages 14–15. About $25 a week, or replace it entirely with earnings from real work. If they have a job, shift to matching their investing instead. The calculator on this page lets you try different amounts and splits.

What business can a 9th Grade child actually run?

The Paid Skill: "I do this professionally, and here are three clients who'll say so." Startup cost is $0 — the investment is hours of learning. Your rate is set by proof, not by hours worked. Three testimonials are worth more than three months of practice.

What is the most common money mistake 9th Grade children make?

Never reading the payslip because the total looks about right. The expensive things are lines you have never noticed, in both directions. Read every line once, out loud, with someone. Ask what each one is and whether the employer matches anything. Each of the six lessons on this page names the trap for its own pillar and the smallest change that fixes it.

Is the 9th Grade money content on this page free?

Yes — all 6 lessons and their pictures, the 8-question check, the 6 stories, the 3 decision cards, the 4 worked money sums, the questions to ask at dinner, the vocabulary, the mission, the starter business, the allowance calculator, and the milestones are free with no signup. The 9th Grade printable packs in the shop are optional.

Does this work for a child who cannot read yet?

Every lesson on this page has a picture as well as words, so a younger sibling can follow along. If your child is not reading independently yet, start at the Pre-K or Kindergarten page instead — those are built to be spoken and pointed at.

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