Montana
The Financial Game Plan for Kids
*While these are the state’s standards, we recommend starting our program in grade 3 to ensure students are ready for the more advanced money concepts we cover.
Montana does not currently have stand-alone financial literacy standards for grades K–5. While some concepts appear in social studies and career/technical education frameworks, there is no dedicated statewide framework for early grades.
The Financial Game Plan for Kids helps fill this gap by introducing age-appropriate money concepts that support future learning, including:
Understanding the value and uses of money.
Making basic spending and saving decisions.
Connecting money habits to future goals.
Learning simple ways to keep money safe.
Even without a state mandate for K–5, these lessons build an early foundation that supports Montana’s *K–12 graduation requirement, which now includes financial literacy components at higher grade levels.
The Financial Game Plan for Kids
Beginning with the Class of 2026, Montana students must complete a ½-credit course in either economics or personal finance, embedded within Social Studies, Math, or CTE. While the state’s Social Studies Standards include nine economics skill standards, only one specifically addresses personal finance, and it lacks detailed benchmarks or coding.
The Financial Game Plan for Teens aligns with and extends these requirements by:
Teaching practical money skills not fully outlined in the standards.
Reinforcing personal finance concepts such as budgeting, credit, debt management, and investing.
Connecting economics principles to real-life decision-making.
Although Montana passed HB 535 in 2023 as an aspirational goal for statewide financial literacy instruction, our program provides a concrete, ready-to-use resource for educators to meet both current graduation requirements and broader financial education objectives.