What You'll Be Doing

This is your culminating project for the entire course. You'll create a personal 5-year vision board in Google Slides that explores your financial future after high school. This is about YOU—your interests, goals, and dreams. Your vision board will combine your ideas about career, education, finances, and lifestyle with practical thinking about how to make it happen. Remember: this doesn't have to be your final plan. It's a starting point for thinking about your future.

Learning Objectives

•       Apply what you've learned in this course to think about your own financial future

•       Explore different career and education paths and their financial implications

•       Set realistic financial goals for the next 5 years

•       Create a visual representation of your future

•       Reflect on how financial literacy will help you make better choices

What You're Creating

You'll create a 5-year personal financial vision board using Google Slides. A template is waiting for you in Google Classroom. Your vision board will include:

•       Your post-secondary plans (education, training, or career entry)

•       Your career interests and potential income

•       Your financial goals (saving, managing debt, emergency fund)

•       Your lifestyle goals and experiences you want in the next 5 years

•       Visual elements (images, colors, graphics) that represent your vision

•       Written descriptions explaining each goal and how you might achieve it

Your 5-Year Timeline

Picture yourself 5 years from now (around age 20–21). Think about these questions:

•       Am I in college, university, trade school, or working? Why that choice?

•       What kind of work interests me or could I see myself doing?

•       How much money do I want to be earning? (Realistic for my field)

•       What do I want to save for? (Emergency fund, car, travel, housing)

•       Do I have any debt? (Student loans, credit card, etc.) How will I manage it?

•       Where am I living? What's my living situation like?

•       What experiences or accomplishments do I want by then? (Travel, skills, independence, relationships)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Review and Reflect

Before you start creating, think about what you've learned in this course:

•       What surprised you most about money and finances?

•       How did you feel about topics like budgeting, debt, or saving?

•       What's one money habit you want to start or keep in your future?

•       How might understanding taxes, banking, and budgeting help your future self?

Step 2: Explore and Define Your Goals

Write down ideas for your 5-year future in these categories. Don't worry about having all the answers—just explore what interests you:

Education & Career

•       What subjects or activities interest you?

•       What's one job or career field you're curious about? (You can list a few options!)

•       What education do you need? (College, university, apprenticeship, on-the-job training)

•       In 5 years, roughly how much do you want to earn per year in an entry-level or mid-level position?

Financial Goals

•       Do you want to start an emergency fund? How much?

•       What do you want to save for in the next 5 years? (Car, travel, education, first apartment)

•       Do you expect any debt? (Student loans, car loan) How will you manage it?

•       How much could you realistically save each month from a part-time or starting job?

Lifestyle & Experiences

•       Where do you imagine living? (City, type of housing, with family, roommates, alone)

•       What experiences matter to you? (Travel, hobbies, time with friends/family, independence)

•       What does 'financial freedom' or 'feeling secure' mean to you?

Step 3: Gather Visual Resources

Find images, colors, and graphics that represent your vision. You can:

•       Search Google Images for pictures (college campus, dream job, travel destination, apartment style, etc.)

•       Use icons and shapes in Google Slides to create visual elements

•       Choose colors that match your energy or represent your goals

•       Include your goals as text alongside the images

Step 4: Create Your Vision Board in Google Slides

A template Google Slides presentation is waiting for you in Google Classroom. Open it and build your vision board with these slides:

1.    Title Slide: Your name and 'My 5-Year Vision'

2.    Education & Career Slide: Your post-secondary plans, career interests, and potential income

3.    Financial Goals Slide: Savings targets, emergency fund, things you want to buy or fund

4.    Lifestyle Slide: Where you want to live, experiences you want, what matters to you

5.    Action Plan Slide: How you'll actually get there (connect to budgeting, saving, education)

6.    Reflection Slide: What you learned in this course and how you'll use it

Design Tips:

•       Keep slides visually balanced—mix images and text

•       Use consistent colors and fonts

•       Include specific numbers where you can, but estimates are fine too

•       Make it personal and authentic—this is YOUR vision

Step 5: Submit and Reflect

When your vision board is complete:

7.    Share your Google Slides presentation in Google Classroom (set permissions to allow viewing)

8.    Complete the Lesson 30 Reflection Google Form to answer questions about your vision and what you learned

How This Brings It All Together

This project applies everything you've learned:

•       Unit 1: Your vision reflects your values. Money is a tool to support what matters to you.

•       Unit 2: Understanding income, taxes, and banking helps you plan realistically for your career.

•       Unit 3: Budgeting is how you get from here to your 5-year vision.

•       Unit 4: Understanding credit, loans, and saving helps you build wealth responsibly.

•       Unit 5: Protecting your information and making smart choices keeps your financial future safe.

Requirements Checklist

Before you submit, make sure your vision board includes:

•       ☐ Title slide with your name

•       ☐ Education & Career slide (post-secondary plans, career ideas, potential income)

•       ☐ Financial Goals slide (savings ideas, emergency fund, things to save for)

•       ☐ Lifestyle slide (housing, experiences, what matters to you)

•       ☐ Action Plan slide (how you'll reach your goals)

•       ☐ Reflection slide (what you learned and how you'll use it)

•       ☐ Visually appealing (images, colors, balanced layout)

•       ☐ Realistic goals (entry-level career salaries, reasonable savings amounts)

•       ☐ Completed the Lesson 30 Reflection Google Form

Final Thoughts

You're at an exciting point in your life. The next 5 years will bring changes—some planned, some unexpected. That's okay. The skills you've learned in this course—budgeting, understanding debt, making good financial decisions, protecting yourself—will serve you no matter what path you take. Your vision today doesn't have to be your final answer. It's a starting point. Stay curious, stay flexible, and remember that smart financial habits compound over time. Your future self will thank you for the choices you make now.

Congratulations on completing Financial Literacy 10!