Welcome FBLA Students and Advisors!
LifeSmarts teaches financial and consumer literacy through fun competitions. FBLA-affiliated LifeSmarts teams are invited to compete in two separate events:
- The FBLA LifeSmarts Challenge and
- Varsity LifeSmarts competition
For more details, please read the FBLA Adviser starter guide.
Advisors: Please visit this page for more resources specific to coaching your team.
The LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge
The LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge is a competitive event that begins online, and the 12 top-scoring teams from both the Fall and Spring Challenges advance to live, in-person competition at the National Leadership Conference.
Learn more about the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge 24-25.
Download the FBLA Coach Starter Guide!
- Two LifeSmarts FBLA Challenges are offered during the school year to qualify teams to advance to the finals at the FBLA National Leadership Conference:
- Fall Challenge Competition–October 14 – November 8, 2024
- Spring Challenge Competition–January 27 – February 21, 2025
- To complete the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge teams of two high school or two middle school FBLA students (with one serving as the team captain) complete:
- Two online quizzes together – one fifty-question Personal Finance Quiz and one fifty-question Consumer Rights Quiz. These are called “TeamSmarts” quizzes since they work as a team to complete them. These are only available on the Team Captains LifeSmarts Quizzes tab.
- More information on how to register is on the FBLA Coach Starter Guide
- Each of the two students also completes an individual sixty question Quiz that covers Personal Finance and all other LifeSmarts topic areas
- Two online quizzes together – one fifty-question Personal Finance Quiz and one fifty-question Consumer Rights Quiz. These are called “TeamSmarts” quizzes since they work as a team to complete them. These are only available on the Team Captains LifeSmarts Quizzes tab.
IMPORTANT – UPDATED RULES this year!
- Participation
- FBLA Teams are allowed to return and compete in the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge on the state and national level as long as that team did not win first place in the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge at a previous FBLA National Leadership Conference. Individuals may compete again with a new partner as long as neither was part of a first place in the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge at a previous FBLA National Leadership Conference.
- Middle School Teams and High School Teams are eligible to compete.
- Teams can be middle school students or high school students – not a combination of both.
FBLA chapters may participate in state and national Varsity LifeSmarts championships
- Four- or five-person teams compete online to advance to state competitions and possibly the National LifeSmarts Championship in April.
- Teams must complete the online qualification quizzes before their state’s online closing date.
- Click here to review the registration process for online competition
Additional Opportunities for FBLA Teams
TeamSmarts
From September through February, FBLA teams may compete against other FBLA chapters in the monthly TeamSmarts quiz. Each month the top-scoring FBLA team will receive a $100 cash prize. Click here to learn more about TeamSmarts.
- Teams are eligible to win one TeamSmarts award per program year. This includes one team per chapter, school, county, etc.
- To compete for the FBLA TeamSmarts award, coaches must select “FBLA” for their team type or list FBLA in the drop-down menu under “what type of team is this?”
Wild Card Team to the National LifeSmarts Championship
FBLA teams may apply to be selected as a Wild Card champion team to compete in the National LifeSmarts Championship. Interested FBLA teams of 4-5 students, working with an adult adviser or coach, must complete the Wild Card application process. The winning team will receive at least $1,000 in travel stipends to attend the National LifeSmarts Championship in April. You will compete at least seven times against teams from across the country. To learn more about applying as a Wild Card team, click here.
Questions? We are always happy to help! Email us!
