What is the rate of return for a $34 share of stock which pays a $3 annual dividend? According to the IRS, what is the maximum amount you are allowed to give any number of individuals every year, without facing any gift taxes? A “baby bond” usually refers to a bond that has a par value of less than what figure?

 Know the answers? Post them in the Comments field below. (I’ll let you know if you’re right in a post next week.)

 A team of four students from Minnesota’s Little Falls Community High School correctly answered all these questions (as well as many others) to beat out eleven other state champions and win the first-ever National Personal Finance Competition on May 20th.

 Sponsored by the Missouri Council on Economic Education and Wells Fargo Advisors, the personal finance showdown – held in Kansas City, Missouri – was meant to encourage mastery of personal finance among high schoolers. (The financial crisis was probably an impetus, as well.)

 The Little Falls team vied against nearly 5,000 other financially-savvy students and survived three rounds of questioning on financial topics ranging from civic (what is the function of the Federal Reserve?) to technical (calculating net pay) and even behavioral (what is impulse buying?). For their efforts, the Little Falls team members were each rewarded a prize of a $1,000 I-Series Savings Bond.

 You too can find out how your financial know-how stacks up. Try the Online Flash Card Quiz at the web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.