Course: FINC321 last published: 12/17/13 11:38 AM
Current Editor: Basic Text Editor

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Course Description

Course Goals/Objectives
After completing this course, you should be able to apply personal finance knowledge to effectively communicate with financial professionals analyze and control personal income, debt, and investments to create a budget and build wealth identify and evaluate risks to protect current and future assets

Course Introduction
For a company to stay in business, it must be fiscally responsible; the same holds true for individuals and families. Personal financial management is not just a phase you go through; it's a daily struggle to maintain your current lifestyle. Taking the time to learn the basics of insurance, debt, and investing will help you achieve many of the lifetime goals you set for yourself and your family.
The course consists of the following major topics: financial planning, personal insurance, personal debt, savings and investments, and education and retirement planning.

Grading Information and Criteria
For a company to stay in business, it must be fiscally responsible; the same holds true for individuals and families. Personal financial management is not just a phase you go through; it's a daily struggle to maintain your current lifestyle. Taking the time to learn the basics of insurance, debt, and investing will help you achieve many of the lifetime goals you set for yourself and your family.
The course consists of the following major topics: financial planning, personal insurance, personal debt, savings and investments, and education and retirement planning.

Additional Information

Project Descriptions
Homework (two short papers)
Social Security Paper (2–3 pages)
Research the development and administration of the U.S. Social Security program. Include its history, current structure, and calculation of benefits; also, include other benefits available through the program.
The Social Security paper is worth 10 percent of your final grade.
Play Money Paper (1–2 pages)
Pretend that you have $10,000 to invest for four weeks. You are to "invest" this money in stocks or mutual funds and to track your investments on a weekly basis for four weeks (see schedule for due date). Pick five different stocks or funds to follow.
Write a report on
a. why you selected the investments you did
b. whether any noteworthy company results, news events, or economic events impacted your investments during this period (show your gains or losses for the period)
c. how your investments' performance compared with the performance of the S&P 500 index during this period
d. your tracking of the following three stock market indexes:
Dow Jones Industrial Average
S&P 500 stock index
Russell 2000 index for small caps
The play money paper is worth 10 percent of your final grade.
Written Paper Rubric
Criteria
Possible Points per Criteria Exemplary
Meets Expectations
Developing
Poor
Not Apparent ____ points
____ points
____ points
____ points
0 Points
Organization
Arranges ideas clearly and logically to support the purpose or argument; ideas flow smoothly and are effectively linked; reader can follow the line of reasoning
Arranges ideas adequately to support the purpose or argument; links between ideas are generally clear; reader can follow the line of reasoning for the most part
Arranges ideas adequately, in general, although ideas sometimes fail to make sense together; reader remains fairly clear about what writer intends
Arranges ideas illogically; ideas frequently fail to make sense together; reader cannot identify a line of reasoning and becomes frustrated or loses interest No assignment submitted or submitted late
Content
Gives very specific information. Addressed all of the assignment