Course Description
Students will study the basic principles and concepts of personal finance. Topics include: credit, loans, insurance, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, retirement, and estate planning.
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand the importance of personal finance
- Understand various aspects and the importance of risk management, including health and property/liability insurance
- Evaluate the various types of life insurance and determine the best features of each and how they may differ according to the student’s individual needs
- Understand investing fundamentals and produce an all-encompassing investment portfolio
- Differentiate between stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and understand the various features of each
- Understand the operations of the various types of professional investment firms and be able to communicate with them and place investment orders.
- Evaluate real estate purchase options and do advance portfolio management.
- Plan for retirement and perform estate planning
- Perform sophisticated financial analysis and planning
- Understand the importance of budgeting and evaluate the effectiveness of their own budgets and the related cash-flow management techniques
- Evaluate various tax strategies and fill out a federal income tax form
- Be able to make sophisticated decisions concerning cash management
- Evaluate the features of different types of credit card and understand the advantages and disadvantages of credit card use
- Understand the basic features of installment credit and evaluate the merits of various plans
- Consider the options available when purchasing automobiles and other major purchases
- Explain the basic features of home ownership and advantages and disadvantages of owning versus renting
General Education Distribution Area
AAS Business Elective