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Brighter Financial Futures – Onboarding

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Welcome to PersonalFinanceLab

Run your own budget, invest virtual money in the real stock market, and learn how money actually works. Here’s everything you need to get started.

Go to my dashboard (opens in a new tab)
The Personal Budget Game shown on a laptop screen

Getting started

  1. Open your dashboard

    Your games, lessons and progress all live there.

  2. Watch the tutorials

    Short videos inside the platform show you how to research, trade and find your way around.

  3. Play and learn

    Work through the games and lessons your teacher assigns. Your teacher may assign one game or both.

  4. Get your certificate

    Finish the program and download your certificate of completion from your dashboard.

The Budget Game

Life happens. Can your budget handle it?

You start out as a college student with bills to pay. Each game “month” takes about 20 minutes, and every couple of days a Life Event pops up: a surprise expense, or sometimes a little extra cash.

  • Build your net worth by moving money from checking into savings.
  • Build your credit score by covering shortfalls responsibly and paying your balance on time.
  • Check the class rankings to see how your net worth, credit score and overall score stack up.
Life Event: rent due in 2 days Life Event: a visit to the vet Life Event: car payment due in 7 days Life Event: a chance to work extra hours

The Investing Challenge

Real prices. Real rankings. Real prizes.

Build a portfolio of stocks, bonds and mutual funds using real-time market prices, and see how you rank against your class.

  • Practice right away. You can start trading as soon as you’re registered. When the competition begins, your portfolio resets so everyone starts even.
  • Do your research. Look up company news and data without leaving the platform.
  • Spread it out. Find out what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket.
  • Compete for prizes. Over $10,000 in prizes are awarded every year. See the rules and prizes (opens in a new tab)
The Stock Market Game shown on a laptop screen

Lessons that fit between plays

Each lesson takes about 5 to 10 minutes and mixes in short videos, calculators and mini games. A quick pop quiz at the end shows what you’ve learned. Topics include budgeting, credit, taxes, investing and careers.

Example of a lesson pop quiz
Sample financial literacy certificate of completion

Finish strong. Earn your certificate.

When you complete the program, your certificate of completion will be waiting on your dashboard. Download it, print it, and add it to your résumé or college applications.

Stuck?

Use the live chat inside the platform, or ask your teacher. Ready to jump in?

Go to my dashboard (opens in a new tab)