Junior & Senior Cycle Personal Finance Course

Introduction

Senior Cycle / TY syllabus programme guidelines.

The video lessons have been developed as part of the MoneyWhizz life skills learning initiative. Understanding how money works is a core life skill, and the contents of the lessons focus on the 6-key financial pillars.

Earning & Income (including payslips and taxes).
Saving & Spending (including the 50:30:20 rule).
Credit & Debt (including credit reporting and how credit cards work).
Investing (including the Rule of 72 and diversification).
Insurance & Protection
Budgeting & Money Management (incorporating key points from the other lessons).

All the course material has been developed to promote long-term financial wellbeing and resilience. The programme also includes a Student Workbook where a series of questions are presented. These are designed to encourage class discussion and critical thinking.

Additionally, the 2025 / 2026 Student Money Guide is also included.

Knowledge Test – QUIZ FEATURE – Please note that a quiz feature is now included with the programme and is located blow the six video lessons. The target is to get 8 out 10 correct answers to pass.

Lesson 1. Earning & Income.

In this lesson, you will view a sample payslip from work. It contains a lot of information that is explained in detail. It also highlights how actual income reduces once taxes and other deductions are factored in. This is important from a budgeting and planning perspective.

Lesson 2. Saving & Spending

It is important to use money wisely. This does not mean that there can be little enjoyment or spending. Rather, it is important to understand that money can come and go, earning may rise and fall over time so this is where saving plays an important role in developing financial resilience. In this lesson, we offer some simple approaches that have proven successful over time.

Lesson 3. Credit & Debt

Borrowing money is also called using credit. In other words, other people’s money. And when this is done, the borrower is in debt. There are many forms of credit today. From car loans, mortgages, credit cards, buy-now-pay-later and much more. It is important to understand the difference. And since each option will include some form of interest charge, it is really important to know how to investigate your options thoroughly.

Lesson 4. Investing

Investing money is about taking a calculated risk in order to grow it. The primary objective should be to understand the risks involved, the potential for a successful rate of return. So too is understanding the concept of ‘diversification’ when taking risk, in other words, spreading risk around. In this lesson, you will learn more about how this can be done.

Lesson 5. Insurance & Protection

In this lesson, you will learn about the essential aspects of different forms of insurance, risk and how you can reduce it.

Lesson 6 – Budgeting & Financial Planning

In this final lesson, all of the other money lessons will play a role in personal financial planning. For some people, they may choose to save to meet their financial goals. For others, they may save and use some credit and incur debt, this is common for people planning to buy a home for the first time. Other people may include investing as part of their financial plans and many people will need some insurance. So, it is all linked.

Personal Money Skills (Secondary School)

Money can be both simple and complex. While its use is widespread, some of the foundations of how money works are not always clear. At MoneyWhizz, we are working to simlify the working of the personal finance system. The following questions are based on the lessons in the MoneyWhizz financial education lessons. Your target is to score 8 out of 10 correct answers. Good luck!