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Course 162 · Money course 33

Test Biases in Money Decisions

Compare fictional money decisions, check the evidence for common biases, and retest a prewritten rule on changed cases.

Before you start

Use the supplied fictional case; paper and a calculator are sufficient.

Practical Math and Data for Work and Training See everything you’ll need

Free download · Original practice data · No external account required. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

An original financial decision-case comparison and rule test covering anchored prices, sunk costs, recurring charges and delayed spending with a prewritten decision rule.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesSupplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners ages 14+ practicing independently; adult-only transactions are studied as fictional future decisions.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Use the supplied fictional case; paper and a calculator are sufficient.
  • Recommended preparation: Practical Math and Data for Work and Training. Do not supply private financial documents.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

An original financial decision-case comparison and rule test covering anchored prices, sunk costs, recurring charges and delayed spending with a prewritten decision rule.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • A controlled price-anchor comparison and choice explanation.
  • A sunk/avoidable cost decision table.
  • A twelve-month price comparison and crossover calculation.
  • A dated value-comparison record and access-constraint note.
  • A framed-choice comparison with explicit design limitations.
  • A complete financial decision-case comparison and rule-retest log.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • All supplied records reconcile and the decision uses the named case rules.
  • Calculations show units, intermediate values and a second check.
  • Changed-input practice revises the affected result and identifies uncertainty.
  • The final project combines six lesson records, separates fictional assumptions from current rules, and states a supported next step.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Trace the money

For test biases in money decisions, keep the source amount, transformation and resulting balance together.

02

Keep the assumption visible

Use the stated rate, date, permission and case rule; a real arrangement can produce a different result.

03

Test the decision

Use a changed input and a clear stop or review condition before turning this practice into an action.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Anchor
An initial reference that can influence comparison despite limited relevance.
Sunk cost
A past cost that cannot be recovered or changed by the present alternatives.
Comparison horizon
The period across which costs or values are compared.
Framing
Presenting equivalent quantities in different descriptions.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Expose a price anchor with an independent comparison

    Compare equivalent current offers while separately recording an advertised reference price.

  2. 2
    7 min

    Separate sunk cost from a new spending choice

    Identify an unrecoverable cost and calculate only the future difference between alternatives.

  3. 3
    8 min

    Compare recurring and one-time prices on the same horizon

    Compare equivalent recurring and one-time charges over a fixed horizon.

  4. 4
    9 min

    Test immediate and delayed financial value

    Compare immediate and delayed amounts with a stated hypothetical time-value rate.

  5. 5
    9 min

    Measure a framed choice without claiming a causal trial

    Calculate a financial-choice contrast and distinguish descriptive evidence from causation.

  6. 6
    11 min

    Write and retest a financial decision rule

    Apply a prewritten money-choice rule to anchor and recurring-cost retest cases.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Test Biases in Money Decisions practice files

Supplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

Federal Reserve Education — Keys to Understanding Cognitive Biases
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Official page opened/read during Money expansion authoring; checked the relevant concept and access state. These sources do not establish funding eligibility.

Access: Official resource page and its readable overview/transcript inspected; no external LMS lesson or media playback is claimed.

Reuse: Original fictional practice, questions and calculations; paraphrased concepts with a source link. No source exercise copied.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — The Anchoring Effect
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Official page opened/read during Money expansion authoring; checked the relevant concept and access state. These sources do not establish funding eligibility.

Access: Readable official webpage inspected with the web reader on 2026-10-01. No interactive-tool operation is claimed.

Reuse: Original fictional practice, questions and calculations; paraphrased concepts with a source link. No source exercise copied.

Federal Reserve Education — Behave Yourself! Behavioral Economics for Kids
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Official page opened/read during Money expansion authoring; checked the relevant concept and access state. These sources do not establish funding eligibility.

Access: Official resource page and its readable overview/transcript inspected; no external LMS lesson or media playback is claimed.

Reuse: Original fictional practice, questions and calculations; paraphrased concepts with a source link. No source exercise copied.

Federal Reserve Education — Opportunity Cost
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Official page opened/read during Money expansion authoring; checked the relevant concept and access state. These sources do not establish funding eligibility.

Access: Official resource page and its readable overview/transcript inspected; no external LMS lesson or media playback is claimed.

Reuse: Original fictional practice, questions and calculations; paraphrased concepts with a source link. No source exercise copied.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one