BA 218 Personal Finance Planning

This course introduces essential concepts and skills required to effectively manage money. Students will learn how to budget money, how to save or borrow money, how to interpret a credit score, and how to interpret and analyze other financial choices. In doing so, students will develop a range of mathematical skills that will allow them to model and solve problems applicable to personal finance. 

Credits

3

Notes

Lower Division Transfer (LDT) Course

General Education Requirements

AAS Computation

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding the fundamentals of the financial planning process and associated vocabulary (e.g. credit scores, credit, bankruptcy). Develop budgets and calculate cash flows to meet current needs and future financial goals, and be able to increase or decrease expenditures by percentages in order to balance a personal budget. Solve problems involving interest rates and the time value of money (e.g. credit card debt, renting versus buying a home) and create and interpret associated graphs. Describe the social factors and consequences of financial events such as bankruptcy and poor retirement planning. Describe basic retirement vehicles such as social security, IRAs, Roth IRAs, and 401(k)s. Calculate saving rates and the associated returns to these vehicles. Evaluate the insurance choices available to consumers and use basic probability to explain the theory of actuarially fair insurance.