BUS1315 PERSONAL FINANCE
3 Credit Hours
Student Level:
This course is open to students on the college level in either the freshman or the sophomore year.
Catalog Description:
BUS1315 - Personal Finance (3 hrs.)
This course is designed for non-business majors as well as for business majors. It is concerned with efficient management of money as a primary requirement for a successful personal life. This course is designed to aid the individual in establishing and maintaining credit, using a budget, safeguarding and investment of savings, and arranging personal insurance.
KRSN: BUS1010
Course Classification:
Lecture
Prerequisites:
None
Controlling Purpose:
This course is designed to help students manage many phases of personal finances. Instruction is focused on the efficient management of money as a primary ingredient for successful personal life. The course is designed to aid the individual in establishing and maintaining credit, creating and using a budget, safeguarding, and investment of savings, and arranging personal insurance.
Core Outcomes:
The learning outcomes and competencies detailed in this course meet or exceed the learning outcomes and competencies specified by the Kansas Core Outcomes Project for this course, as sanctioned by the Kansas Board of Regents.
- Explain personal financial planning, financial statements, time value of money, and budgets
- Explain the benefits and potential costs of consumer credit
- Evaluate housing needs, large purchases, and financing alternatives
- Identify fundamental tax strategies
- Identify how insurance is used to manage risk
- Compare Investment and retirement planning alternatives and strategies
- Explain the estate planning process
Learner Outcomes:
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to plan, analyze, and control financial resources to meet their personal financial goals. Students will be able to use the financial knowledge, skills, and tools in a confident manner, to take advantage of favorable financial opportunities, to resolve personal financial problems, to achieve self-satisfaction, and to strive toward personal and family financial security.
Unit Outcomes for Criterion Based Evaluation:
The following defines the minimum core content, not including the final examination period. Instructors may add other content as time allows.
UNIT 1: FINANCIAL PLANNING
Outcome Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to develop and implement personal financial goals by evaluating social, personal, and economic influences; assessing opportunity costs; applying time value of money concepts; and creating a plan for making informed personal financial and career decisions.
- Identify personal and economic influences on personal financial goals and decisions
- Develop personal financial goals
- Assess personal and financial opportunity costs associated with financial decisions
- Calculate time value of money situations to analyze personal financial decisions
- Implement a plan for making personal financial and career decisions
UNIT 2: MONEY MANAGEMENT
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will demonstrate the ability to apply principles of effective money management by creating a personal balance sheet and cash flow statement, developing and implementing a personal budget, and connecting these financial activities to their personal saving and financial goals.
- 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
UNIT 3: TAXES IN YOUR FINANCIAL PLAN
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to identify the major taxes paid by individuals in society, calculate taxable income, prepare a federal income tax return, and select appropriate tax strategies for different life situations.
- Identify the major taxes paid by people 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 situations
UNIT 4: SAVINGS AND PAYMENT SERVICES
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to identify commonly used financial services, compare types of financial institutions, analyze various savings plans, and evaluate different payment methods to make informed personal financial decisions.
- Identify commonly used financial services
- Compare the types of financial institutions
- Analyze various types of savings plans
- Evaluate different types of payment methods
UNIT 5: CONSUMER CREDIT: ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES, SOURCES, AND COSTS
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to define and analyze consumer credit by evaluating its advantages and disadvantages, assessing various types and sources of credit, determining loan affordability, calculating the cost of credit using different interest formulas, and developing a plan to protect credit and manage debt effectively.
- Define consumer credit
- 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
- Calculate the cost of credit by calculating interest using various interest formulas
- Develop a plan to protect your credit and manage your debts
UNIT 6: CONSUMER PURCHASING STRATEGIES AND WISE BUYING OF MOTOR VEHICLES
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to apply effective consumer purchasing strategies for motor vehicles by analyzing the buying process, addressing potential consumer issues, and making informed decisions that consider available legal protections and alternatives.
- 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
UNIT 7: SELECTING AND FINANCING HOUSING
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to make informed housing decisions by analyzing financial factors, evaluating available options, and applying strategies for successfully acquiring or selling a home.
- Assess costs and benefits of renting
- Implement the home-buying process
- Determine costs associated with purchasing a home
- Develop a strategy for selling a home
UNIT 8: HOME AND AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
- Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to evaluate home and automobile insurance by analyzing risks, assessing coverage options, and considering the factors that influence insurance needs and costs. Identify types of risks and risk management
- 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 types of automobile insurance coverage
- Evaluate factors that affect the cost of automobile insurance
UNIT 9: HEALTH AND DISABILITY INCOME INSURANCE
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to evaluate health and disability income insurance by analyzing coverage options, assessing costs and benefits, and understanding the role these insurance types play in financial planning.
- 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 policy
- Assess the trade-offs of different health 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
UNIT 10: FINANCIAL PLANNING WITH LIFE INSURANCE
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to evaluate life insurance and annuities by analyzing policy types, determining personal coverage needs, and applying strategies to achieve financial security.
- 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
UNIT 11: INVESTING BASICS AND EVALUATING BONDS
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to analyze investment strategies by evaluating risk, return, and liquidity factors, and apply this understanding to make informed decisions regarding government and corporate 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
UNIT 12: INVESTING IN STOCKS
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to evaluate stock investments by analyzing the features, valuation measures, and trading strategies of common and preferred stock to make informed investment decisions.
- Identify the most important features of common and 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 long-term investors and short-term speculators
UNIT 13: INVESTING IN MUTUAL FUNDS
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to evaluate mutual fund investments by analyzing their characteristics, objectives, costs, and trading processes to make informed investment decisions.
- Explain why investors choose funds
- Asses the different sales charges and fees that investors must pay
- Classify mutual funds by investment objective
- Evaluate mutual funds
- Describe how and why mutual funds are bought and sold
UNIT 14: RETIREMENT AND ESTATE PLANNING
Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to plan for retirement and estate management by analyzing financial resources, projecting retirement needs, and evaluating legal and personal considerations to develop a comprehensive plan.
- Analyze current assets and liabilities for retirement and estimate retirement living costs
- Determine planned retirement income and develop a balanced budget based on retirement income
- Analyze the personal and legal aspects of estate planning
- Distinguish among various types of wills and trusts
Projects Required:
Projects may vary according to the individual instructor.
Textbook:
Contact Bookstore for current textbook.
Materials/Equipment Required:
Calculator
Attendance Policy:
Students should adhere to the attendance policy outlined by the instructor in the course syllabus.
Grading Policy:
The grading policy will be outlined by the instructor in the course syllabus.
Maximum class size:
Based on classroom occupancy
Course Time Frame:
The U.S. Department of Education, Higher Learning Commission, and the Kansas Board of Regents define credit hour and have specific regulations that the college must follow when developing, teaching, and assessing the educational aspects of the college. A credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally-established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester hour of credit or an equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time. The number of semester hours of credit allowed for each distance education or blended hybrid courses shall be assigned by the college based on the amount of time needed to achieve the same course outcomes in a purely face-to-face format.
402.00 - Academic Code of Conduct
263.00 - Student Appeal of Course Grades
403.00 - Student Code of Conduct
Accessibility Services Program:
Cowley College, in recognition of state and federal laws, accommodates all students with a documented disability. If a student has a disability that will impact their ability to be successful in this course, please contact the Student Accessibility Coordinator for the needed accommodations.
Disclaimer: This Information is Subject to Change. For the Official Course Procedure Contact Academic Affairs.
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