Do you remember the first paycheck you ever received? You were probably so excited to rip it open and bask in the financial glory of all those hours you put in.
But hang on a minute: That paycheck was smaller than you were anticipating. What happened? And who is this FICA person anyway?
One of the aspects of personal finance our students explored this quarter was calculating gross vs. net hourly pay. Using LifeSim, a personal finance simulator developed by our instructor Nathan Schloetel and a foundational element of our Personal Finance courses, students researched a job’s take-home pay by determining what their gross hourly pay, gross annual pay, net hourly pay, and net annual pay would be. For this exercise, students were told this would be their first job, and they did not yet have a college degree.
Students worked through the struggles of finding a job they were interested in that met the limitations and realized “take-home” (Net) pay is significantly different from Gross earnings. This activity comes in especially helpful for 2nd and 3rd year students as they are determining their career pathway and exploring what to expect in income for those careers.
Personal Finance is one of the many courses OLS Students take to obtain their associate degree from OLS. More information about our curriculum is available on our website. To learn more about our program register for an Information Session.
Last Updated March 18, 2019