Personal Finance

This course equips you with the ability to understand, plan, and manage your financial affairs. Personal Finance focuses on the development of practical methods of organizing financial information, how to interpret personal financial position and cash flow, among other topics.

What you’ll learn

  • Students can complete in as little as 27 days.
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Personal Finance

$79

Plus membership

3 Credits

All courses include:

eTextbooks

2 to 3-day turnaround for grading

Multiple chances to improve your grade

On-demand tutoring & writing center

Student support 7 days a week

$79

Plus membership

3 Credits

All courses include:

eTextbooks

2 to 3-day turnaround for grading

Multiple chances to improve your grade

On-demand tutoring & writing center

Student support 7 days a week

Personal Finance

$79

Plus membership

3 Credits

About This Course

|
ACE Approved 2024

The Personal Finance online course equips you to understand, plan, and manage your financial affairs.

download syllabus

What You'll Learn

Define key financial terms, such as budgeting, credit score, diversification, compound interest, time value of money, stocks, inflation, liquid assets, liability, APR, tax deduction, Roth IRA, emergency fund.

Summarize the major principles of personal finance and budgeting and explain how they contribute to overall financial well-being. 

Assess the impact of taxation on personal finances, identify strategies to minimize tax liabilities, and make ethical and responsible financial decisions.

Develop a personalized budget, incorporating income, expenses, and savings goals, applying concepts from the course. 

Develop a plan to protect your credit and manage debt.

Demonstrate an understanding of the factors involved in selecting a house, considering financial implications, location, market trends, home insurance options, coverage, costs, and relevance in protecting personal assets related to homeownership.

Evaluate different types of health, automobile, and life insurance coverage and articulate their importance in mitigating financial risks. 

Design a diversified investment portfolio, compare different types of investment options, and demonstrate an understanding of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

Explore and understand the technological tools, platforms, and software available for managing personal finances, like budgeting apps, investment software, and banking technologies.

Develop personalized retirement and estate plans that align with individual financial goals, considering factors such as longevity, inflation, and the preservation and distribution of wealth.

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Course Details

FIN101

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Personal Finance

This course focuses on the development of practical methods of organizing financial information, how to interpret personal financial position and cash flow, develop achievable and worthwhile goals, and implement actionable plans and risk management techniques to meet those goals. Additional topics covered during Personal Finance includes money management, insurance, and investing.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for Personal Finance.

Topic Subtopics
Personal Financial Planning in Action
  • Identify social and economic influences on financial decisions.
  • Develop personal finance goals.
  • Calculate the time value of money to analyze personal finance decisions.
  • Implement a plan for making personal finance and career decisions.
Money Management Skills
  • Identify the main components of wise money management.
  • Create a personal balance sheet and cash flow statement.
  • Develop and implement a personal budget.
  • Connect money management activities with saving for personal financial goals.
Taxes in Your Financial Plan
  • Identify the major tax types in our society.
  • Calculate taxable income and the amount owed for federal income tax.
  • Prepare a federal income tax return.
  • Select appropriate tax strategies for various life strategies.
Financial Services: Savings Plans and Payment Accounts
  • Identify commonly used financial services.
  • Compare the types of financial institutions.
  • Assess various types of savings plans.
  • Evaluate different types of payment methods.
Consumer Credit: Advantages, Disadvantages, Sources, and Costs
  • Analyze advantages and disadvantages of using consumer credit.
  • Assess the types and sources of consumer credit.
  • Determine whether you can afford a loan and how to apply for credit.
  • Determine the cost of credit by calculating interest using various interest formulas.
  • Develop a plan to protect your credit and manage your debts.
Consumer Purchasing Strategies and Wise Buying of Motor Vehicles
  • Identify strategies for effective consumer buying.
  • Implement a process for making consumer purchases.
  • Describe steps to take to resolve consumer problems.
  • Evaluate legal alternatives available to consumers.
Selecting and Financing Housing
  • Assess costs and benefits of renting.
  • Implement the homebuying process.
  • Determine costs associated with purchasing a home.
  • Develop a strategy for selling a home.
Home and Automobile Insurance
  • Identify types of risks and risk management methods, and develop a risk management plan.
  • Assess the insurance coverage and policy types available to homeowners and renters.
  • Analyze the factors that influence the amount of coverage and cost of home insurance.
  • Identify the important type of automobile insurance coverage.
  • Evaluate factors that affect the cost of automobile insurance.
Health and Disability Income Insurance
  • Recognize the importance of health insurance in financial planning.
  • Analyze the costs and benefits of various types of health insurance coverage as well as major provisions in health insurance policies.
  • Assess the trade-offs of different insurance plans.
  • Evaluate the differences among health care plans offered by private companies and by the government.
  • Explain the importance of disability income insurance in financial planning and identify its sources.
  • Explain why the costs of health insurance and health care have been increasing.
Financial Planning with Life Insurance
  • Define life insurance and determine your life insurance needs.
  • Distinguish between the types of life insurance companies and analyze various life insurance policies these companies issue.
  • Select important provisions in life insurance contracts and create a plan to buy life insurance.
  • Recognize how annuities provide financial security.
Investing Basics and Evaluating Bonds
  • Explain why you should establish an investment program.
  • Describe how safety, risk, income, growth, and liquidity affect your investment program.
  • Identify the factors that can reduce investment risk.
  • Understand why investors purchase government bonds.
  • Recognize why investors purchase corporate bonds.
  • Evaluate bonds when making an investment.
Investing in Stocks
  • Identify the most important features of common preferred stock.
  • Explain how you can evaluate stock investments.
  • Analyze the numerical measures that cause a stock to increase or decrease in value.
  • Describe how stocks are bought and sold.
  • Explain the trading techniques used by longterm investors and shortterm speculators.
Investing in Mutual Funds
  • Explain the characteristics of mutual fund investments.
  • Classify mutual funds by investment objective.
  • Evaluate mutual funds.
  • Describe how and why mutual funds are bought and sold.
Starting Early: Retirement and Estate Planning
  • Analyze your current assets and liabilities for retirement and estimate your retirement living costs.
  • Determine your planned retirement income and develop a balanced budget based on your retirement income.
  • Analyze the personal and legal aspects of estate planning.
  • Distinguish among various types of wills and trusts.

Your score provides a percentage score and letter grade for each course. A passing percentage is 70% or higher.

Assignments for this course include 4 graded exams.


The required eTextbook for this course is included with your course purchase at no additional cost.


Kapoor, Jack, Les Dlabay, Robert J. Hughes, and Melissa Hart. Focus on Personal Finance, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2022. ISBN: 9781260772371


Personal Finance students also take:

Business Communication

Introduction to Communication

Microeconomics


Helpful resources:

How Can You Benefit from Earning a Business Degree?

Get Ahead on Your Business Degree Online

How to Prepare for a Career in Business

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