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FIN 420 ENTIRE COURSE

FIN 420 Week 1 Individual Assignment Identify Personal Financial Goal

s
FIN 420 Week 1 DQ 1
FIN 420 Week 1DQ 2
FIN 420 Week 2 Individual Assignment Worksheets 6 and 7
FIN 420 Week 2 LT Deliverable (Update on Final Project)
FIN 420 Week 2 DQ 1
FIN 420 Week 2DQ 2
FIN 420 Week 3 Individual Assignment Personal Financial Plan
FIN 420 Week 3 LT Deliverable (Update on Final Project)
FIN 420 Week 3 DQ 1

FIN 420 WEEK 1 DQ 1

Describe your current budgeting system. What factors influence your fi

nancial decisions? What are the benefits or concerns of your current b
udgeting system?

FIN 420 WEEK 1 DQ 2

Ch. 1 ofFocus on Personal Financeintroduces eight components of pe

rsonal financial planning. Describe three components of personal finan
cial planning. Visit one of the Key websites suggested on the correspon
ding pages ofFocus on Personal Financefor each of the three compon
ents you described. What information did you find most valuable on th
e websites you visited?

FIN 420 WEEK 1 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT PERS

ONAL FINANCE MISSION STATEMENT

Writea 350- to 700-word personal finance mission statement that des

cribes where you want to be financially and how you want to get there.
Communicate the following in your mission statement:
Personal values
Financial goals
Future vision
An easy action to take to meet your mission
A difficult action to take to meet your mission
Formatyour assignment consistent with APA guidelines.
Note.The information that students use in individual assignments rem
ains confidential between the student and the instructor.
Clickthe Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

FIN 420 WEEK 2 DQ 1

Consider your personal cash flows. How would you adjust cash outflow
s (i.e. adjust your budget) if your household income was cut in half? If
your cash inflows increased, how would you reallocate your surplus to
meet your personal needs and objectives? How do you use credit as a
part of your personal financial plan?

FIN 420 WEEK 2 DQ 2

Many different types of financial institutions exist. Differentiate betwee

n deposit institutions and non-deposit institutions. Provide two exampl
es of deposit and non-deposit financial institutions with a brief explana
tion of each. How can you use each of these financial institutions to m
anage your cash flows and develop or enhance your personal financial
plan?

FIN 420 WEEK 2 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT PER

SONAL FINANCE PROBLEMS AND SUMMARY

Completethe Personal Finance Problems - Week 2.

Writea 750- to 1,050-word summary of the problems in which the tea
m includes the following:
What influence does present and future value of money have on the di
fferent scenarios?
What is the role of risk in determining decisions to diversify or how ass
ets are allocated?
Submitthe team's answers to the questions including all calculations a
nd a summary of the results.
Clickthe Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

FIN 420 WEEK 2 PERSONAL FINANCE

QUIZ
1 Carla Lopez deposits $2,500 a year into her retirement account. If the

se funds have an average earning of 8 percent over the 40 years until h

er retirement, what will be the value of her retirement account?
2 An ATM with a service fee of $2 is used by a person 100 times in a ye
ar. What would be the future value in 10 years (use a 3 percent rate) of
the annual amount paid in ATM fees?
3 If a person spends $10 a week on coffee (assume $500 a year), what
would be the future value of that amount over 10 years if the funds we
re deposited in an account earning 3 percent?
4 A financial company that advertises on television will pay you $60,00
0 now for annual payments of $10,000 that you are expected to receiv
e for a legal settlement over the next 10 years. What is the present valu
e of this assuming the time value of the money at 10%?

FIN 420 WEEK 3 DQ 1

Evaluate your personal risk tolerance using Exhibit 11-2 A Quick Test to
Measure Investment Risk in Ch. 11 of Focus on Personal Finance. Base
d on your results, were you considered more conservative or less cons
ervative? What factors affected your investment choices? Consider a fri
end or family member who is more conservative or less conservative t
han you. How do their money management behaviors differ from your
own?

FIN 420 WEEK 3 DQ 2

Financial experts agree that having an emergency fund is an essential c

omponent of a comprehensive financial plan. However, advice regardi
ng the number of months of household expenses the emergency fund
should cover varies between 3 and 9 months. Taking into account the c
urrent financial environment, how many months of expenses would yo
u recommend for an emergency fund and why? What are three invest
ment options that are appropriate for an emergency fund? Which of th
ese investment options offer the best returns? What reasons might enc
ourage you to forego a higher return on your emergency funds?

FIN 420 WEEK 3 INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM WORKSH

EET

Complete Worksheet 37 inFocus on Personal Finance, Your Financial

Plan Evaluating Corporate Bonds.
Explain the principle of asset allocation. Using the Internet or library re
search, prepare a 2-minute presentation describing why the principle o
f asset allocation is important when establishing an investment progra
m.
Assume you are 59 years old, want to retire in 6 years, and currently h
ave an investment portfolio valued at $550,000 invested in technology
stocks. After talking with friends and relatives, you have decided that y
ou have too many eggs in one basket. Based on this information, use
the asset allocation method described in this chapter and use the follo
wing table to diversify your investment portfolio. Then answer the follo
wing two questions:
o What are the advantages of asset allocation?

FIN 420 WEEK 3 LEARNING TEAM PR

OBLEMS
Assume that you are choosing an investment for your retired parents.

What are the advantages and disadvanges of each of the following?

o a bond issued by the federal government,
o a state or local government,
o or a corporation?
Which would you recommend for your retired parents? Justify your ans
wer.
Five years ago, you purchased a $1,000 corporate bond issued by Gene
ral Electric. The interest rate for the bond was 5%. Comparable bonds
are paying 6% today.

FIN 420 WEEK 4 DQ 1

Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) have received a great deal of bad pr

ess due to the tremendous number of foreclosures resulting from fami
lies who could not afford the loan payments once the interest rates inc
reased. Do you believe this loan option was used appropriately in rece
nt years? Why or why not? Under what circumstances does the use of
ARMs make sense? Please explain.

FIN 420 WEEK 4 DQ 2

Visit a site such aswww.bankrate.comto determine current rates for b

oth a 60-month and a 36-month loan on a new car where the buyer m
ust finance $20,000. Using the loan calculator, what is the difference in
monthly payments between the 60-month loan and the 36-month loan
? Review the amortization tables. What is the difference in total interes
t one would pay over the life of these two loans? What do these differe
nces show you about the true cost of the car?

FIN 420 WEEK 4 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT MUT

UAL FUND EVALUATION

Choosea mutual fund family such as Vanguard, American Funds, T. Ro

we Price, and so forth.
Identifyone mutual fund from that family for each of the following ca
tegories:
Actively managed common stock fund
Fixed income fund
Balanced fund
International fund
Fund devoted to retirement investing
Writea 350- to 700-word mutual fund evaluation for each mutual fund
using the worksheet of your financial plan as a template. Include the fo
llowing in your evaluation:

FIN 420 WEEK 4 PERSONAL FINANCE QUIZ

1 As a stockholder of Kentucky Gas and Oil, you receive its annual repo
rt. In the financial statements, the firm reported after-tax earnings of $
1,200,000 and has issued 1,500,000 shares of common stock. The stock
is currently selling for $24 a share. What is the per earnings share for K
entucky Gas and Oil?
2 Sarah and James Hernandez purchased 150 shares of Cisco Systems
stock at $18 a share. One year later, they sold the stock for $25.40 a sh
are. They paid a broker a $32 commission when they purchased the st
ock and a $40 commission when they sold the stock. During the 12-mo
nth period the couple owned the stock, Cisco Systems paid dividends t
hat totaled $0.24. Calculate the Hernandezes total return for this inves
tment.

FIN 420 WEEK 5 DQ 1

Life insurance is a topic many people do not like to discuss, but unders
tanding your familys needs and planning appropriately in the event of
a premature death is also part of a comprehensive financial plan. Outli
ned in Ch. 10 are four methods for estimating life insurance needs. Wh
ich insurance options are most appropriate for your family situation? B
ased on what you have identified as most appropriate for you, do you
currently have enough life insurance? If not, how can you close this ga
p?

FIN 420 WEEK 5 DQ 2

Consider your current financial plan. Based on what you have learned ab
out your financial goals, risk tolerance, and risk and return of various inve
stment options, what adjustments should you make to the asset allocatio
n of your investment portfolio? What specific actions do you need to take
to make those adjustments or to establish your investment portfolio? Wh
at adjustments will you need to make to your budget and investment port
folio to include adequate insurance?Consider your current financial plan.
Based on what you have learned about your financial goals, risk tolerance
, and risk and return of various investment options, what adjustments sho
uld you make to the asset allocation of your investment portfolio? What s
pecific actions do you need to take to make those adjustments or to estab
lish your investment portfolio? What adjustments will you need to make t
o your budget and investment portfolio to include adequate insurance?

FIN 420 EXPERT EXPECT SUCCESS /FI

N420EXPERTDOTCOM
FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT
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