Unit 3 · Money Matters · Lesson 1

Talk About Your Financial Goals

Read financial tips, listen to a conversation about saving money, and use future forms to talk about short-term and long-term goals.

Unit Goals

  1. Talk about your financial goals.
  2. Express buyer’s remorse.
  3. Describe your spending habits.
  4. Discuss reasons for charitable giving.
Progress
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Lesson References

Open the book pages first, then continue to the warm-up activity.

Open / close Unit Preview page
Open / close Sound Bites and Starting Point page
Open / close Grammar Snapshot and Grammar page
Open / close Grammar Practice and Exchange page
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Warm-up Activity · Money Habits

1. Which habit shows a high financial IQ?
2. Which goal is a long-term financial goal?
A

Topic Preview

Money Matters

Topic Preview. Read these financial tips. Do you think you have a high financial IQ?

UNIT GOALS

  1. Talk about your financial goals
  2. Express buyer’s remorse
  3. Describe your spending habits
  4. Discuss reasons for charitable giving

Three Tips for a High Financial IQ

  1. Spend less than you earn.
    A job loss or serious illness could wipe you out in a few weeks. Keep a budget and track income and expenses.
  2. Have a savings program.
    Start saving early. Even a small weekly amount can become a large amount over time.
  3. Pay off your credit cards.
    Credit cards are convenient, but pay the bill in full each month to avoid debt.
Source: USA TODAY, December 31, 1999. Reprinted with permission.

Preview Check · Correct Answers

1. Which tip is about controlling daily spending?
2. What does the article suggest about saving?
3. What should you do with credit card bills?
4. What is the main idea of the preview?
C

Sound Bites

Audio 24 · Sound Bites

Read and listen to a conversation between two friends about saving money.

Conversation Script

DAVID
Hey, a new entertainment system! What did you do — strike it rich?
JUDY
I wish! No, I saved up for it.
DAVID
There’s no way I could do that. Too many bills.
JUDY
I know what you mean. My credit card bills used to be totally out of hand.
DAVID
Really? Then how did you manage to save all that cash?
JUDY
Well, I just decided it was time to start living within my means. I cut way back on my spending.
DAVID
Wasn’t that hard?
JUDY
Kind of. But I’m glad I did it.
“a piggy bank”

Starting Point · What’s your financial IQ?

I live within my means.I live beyond my means.
I keep track of my expenses.I don’t know where the money goes.
I regularly put something away into savings.I spend everything I have and never save.
I always try to pay my credit card bills in full.I don’t worry about paying my credit card bills every month.
I always have enough money for what I need.I can’t make ends meet.

Sound Bites Check · Correct Answers

1. Did Judy make a lot of money?
2. Why can’t David save money easily?
3. What was Judy’s old problem?
4. What did Judy do to change her situation?
A

Grammar Snapshot

Audio 25 · Grammar Snapshot

Read the interview responses and notice how future plans are expressed.

1

Talk about your financial goals

What are your short-term and long-term financial goals?

I’ve decided to set a long-term goal for myself — to put aside enough money to buy a new car. By this time next year, I’ll have put away enough cash for a down payment. My short-term goal is to start living within my means. Once I’ve started sticking to a monthly budget, I think it’ll be easy.
David Michels, 24
Brisbane, Australia
It really helps me to try and picture where I want to be over the next few years. By next year, I hope to have gotten a good job as a financial consultant. That’s my short-term goal. My long-term goal? I plan to have reached real financial independence before I retire.
Su-jin Lee, 29
Wonju, Korea
My long-term goal is to have saved enough money to spend a year traveling. By the time I’m forty, I’m sure I’ll have saved enough. After I’ve seen some of the world, I plan to settle down and buy a house.
Andreas Festring, 33
Munich, Germany
My college expenses are going to get me into a lot of debt. I don’t expect to have begun making payments by the time I finish school, but I do have a plan. After I finish school, my short-term goal is to find a job where I can make some good money and begin a payment plan. Then I figure that by the time I’m thirty, I should have paid back everything I owe.
Robin Ross, 22
Boston, USA

Snapshot Check · Correct Answers

1. Who wants to buy a new car?
2. Who wants to become a financial consultant?
3. Who has college debt?
4. Who wants to travel for a year?
C

Grammar · Future Plans and Finished Future Actions

1. Expressing future plans

Use expect, hope, intend, plan + to + verb to talk about what someone wants or expects to do in the future.

PatternExample
hope / plan / expect / intend + to + verbI hope to have a good job by next year.
don’t expect + to + verbI don’t expect to have begun making payments by the time I finish school.

2. Perfect infinitive

Use to have + past participle after verbs like hope, expect, intend, plan when the action will be finished before a specific future time.

Example: By next year, I hope to have gotten a good job.

3. Future perfect

Use the future perfect to talk about an action that will be completed by a specific time in the future.

Form: subject + will have + past participle

Examples: By next year, I will have saved enough money. / How much will you have saved by next month?

Important: Do not use the future perfect inside a time clause beginning with when, before, after, once, by the time.

Correct: I’m going shopping after I have finished my report.
Not: after I will have finished my report.

Grammar Practice · Multiple Choice

D. Complete the paragraph about Ms. Kemper’s future plans. Choose the correct phrase.
1. Jessica Kemper _____ business school this semester.
2. Then she _____ a job in the financial industry.
3. She _____ everyone back as soon as she can.
4. She _____ a part-time job to help make ends meet.
E. Complete the paragraph about Mr. Randall’s future plans. Choose the correct perfect infinitive phrase.
1. By the end of this month, he _____ a realistic budget that he can follow.
2. He _____ one of his last credit cards by October.
3. In addition, he _____ putting some money away in savings.
4. If he can stick to his budget, he _____ most of his debt within the year.
F. Choose the correct sentence with the future perfect.
1. By the end of this month / I / put 10 percent of my paycheck in the bank.
2. By the summer / I / save enough to go to Italy.
3. you / pay off your credit card balance by December?
4. When / they / pay the bill in full?
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Final Quiz

1. Complete: By next year, I hope _____ a good job.
2. Which sentence uses the future perfect correctly?
3. What does “live within your means” mean?
4. Who saved up for the entertainment system?
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