COURSE SYLLABUS PD120-Personal Financial Management

The initial post should respond to the main discussion questions and the other follow-up posts should be students’ interactions with their peers’ posts or follow-up questions from the i

COURSE SYLLABUS PD120-Personal Financial Management

FACULTY CONTACT INFO & OFFICE HOURS:

Phone Number: (Please fill this in.)

Email: (Please fill this in.)

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

COMMUNICATION WITH THE INSTRUCTOR:

(Description of best method of contact.)

GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION:

Date: (Please fill this in.)

Course Number: PD 120

Course Name: Personal Financial Management

Semester Credit Hours: 1semester hour

Prerequisite(s): None

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course deals with concepts of personal financial planning and financial control Topics center on critical self examination of student planning techniques through analysis and research of personal financial legal documents, checking accounts and banking services, income tax procedures, savings methods, investment planning, risk management and insurance, and credit records, credit law, and the cost of credit.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1 Explain commonly utilized accounting methods for determining federal and state taxation policies.

2 Formulate a comprehensive personal budget.

3 Apply money management theories and practices used in the American banking system.

4 Define individual responsibilities associated with honoring contractual agreements in the American legal system.

5 Identify commonly used insurance instruments through researching methods of risk management.

6 Prepare a personal insurance plan.

REQUIRED TEXT(S) :

Ryan, Joan S (2010) Managing your Personal Finance, 6 th ed Mason, Ohio: Southwestern-Cengage Learning.

SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:

There are many course resources available for you to use to help you with assignments, tests, and learning Resources are linked to your session page each week and are compatible with the week’s learning exercises You may also wish to access the Herzing Online Library or contact technical support as needed

A

CADEMIC INTEGRITY:

Academic honesty is fundamental value at Herzing College Online Academic Integrity is a demonstration of response for the scholarship and the intellectual/creative efforts of others Herzing will not accept academic

dishonesty, which includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, cheating in any form, theft of educational material, and the falsification of data Plagiarism is the use of another source, person or group’s work without giving the

author(s) credit Plagiarism is lying, dishonest, and illegal and will not be tolerated in an institution whose mission

is to educate students and help them obtain the skills that enable them to make decisions of conscience Herzing policy stipulates that an instance of plagiarism, academic dishonesty or cheating will result in a failing grade for the assignment and at the discretion of the instructor a failing grade for the course In addition, a written warning will

be retained on record in the student’s academic file A second warning may result in the student being expelled from the college

In all instances when borrowing ideas from other sources, students must provide reference of the source

References should be presented in APA format according to the American Psychological Association (APA) Online Etiquette:

Since we cannot see each other, we must be careful how we address one another Let’s please be polite to everyone’s personality, culture, and learning curve Not everyone learns everything at the same pace Therefore, let’s please be courteous to one another when responding to each other’s communication efforts by not criticizing other’s work, praising a good effort as well as being polite and sensitive to cultural backgrounds and engaging in politically correct language

We should also stick to the learning topics outlined by the instructor when participating in classroom discussion threads Discussions outside the context of the weekly learning activities should be directed to the chat café rather than the weekly discussion board to be respectful of everyone’s time constraints

CLASSROOM POLICIES :

Written Assignments: All assignments should be submitted by Sunday, midnight on the week they are

assigned (For Example, Week 1 assignment is due by midnight, Sunday, November 7, 2010.) A template

is provided for you to complete the assignment This template is located in the weekly assessments

section

Quizzes: All weekly quizzes must be completed by Sunday evening, midnight of the week they are

assigned The quizzes consist of multiple choice questions and essay questions The weekly quizzes cover the materials discussed during the week The final exam is an assessment of all material reviewed in the course This quiz must be completed by Sunday evening, midnight of week 4 The mid term exam

consists of multiple choice questions and essay questions

Class Discussion Participation: Students are required to post three posts spread over three separate days.

(Ex, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday) The initial post should respond to the main discussion questions

and the other follow-up posts should be students’ interactions with their peers’ posts or follow-up

questions from the instructor The initial and secondary posts should be meaningful and should promote further discussion The initial post must be a 200 word minimum response and the follow-up posts must

be a 100 word minimum per post The discussion assignment is worth 50 points each week (25 points for

the initial post and 25 points for follow-up posts) Please refer to the discussion threads grading rubric for more about the quality of posts Posts submitted after Sunday evening, midnight of the week will not be

graded No discussion will take place when the week is over.

Late Assignments: Assignments submitted after Sunday evening will receive a 10 percent reduction in

points Assignments received one week late (7 days late) will receive a 50 percent reduction in points Assignments received 2 weeks after the due date will not be graded

D iscussion Threads Grading Rubri c

Discussion Threads Grading Rubric

The Academic Dishonesty policy will be strictly followed and non-compliance with the policy will result in

consequences as outlined in that policy.

Quality of Initial

Post

Fully developed posts indicate:

Clearly defined posts indicate:

Partially developed posts indicate:

No development of posts indicates:

No discussion posts submitted

 Thorough use

of key terms and concepts relevant to the discussion

 Correct use of key terms and concepts relevant to the discussion

 Minimal use

of key terms and

concepts relevant to the

discussion

 No knowledge

of the key terms and concepts relevant to the

discussion

 Thoroughly incorporates textbook and other academic

or professional resources

 Correctly incorporates textbook and other

academic or professional resources

 Minimally incorporate

s textbook and other academic or professional resources

 No use of textbook and other academic or professional resources

 Real-life experiences fully relate to the discussion

 Real-life experiences

do not fully relate to the discussion

 Real-life experiences

do not relate to the discussion

 No application

of real-life experience

 Comprehensive demonstration

of analytical and cognitive thinking skills

 Demonstrates

of analytical and cognitive thinking skills

 Limited demonstrati

on of analytical and cognitive

 No demonstrati

on of analytical and cognitive

Discussion Threads Grading Rubric

The Academic Dishonesty policy will be strictly followed and non-compliance with the policy will result in

consequences as outlined in that policy.

thinking skills

thinking skills

 Thorough use

of current events

 Correct use

of current events

 Minimal use

of current events

 No use of current events

 Use of correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation with no errors

 Use of correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation with minimal errors

 Incorrect spelling, grammar, and punctuatio

n with multiple errors

 Incorrect spelling, grammar, and punctuatio

n with many errors

Initial Post

Deadline

 Wednesday of the week

 One day after the due date assigned by the

Instructor

 Two days after the due date assigned by the

instructor

 Last day of the week (as defined

by the Instructor)

No discussion posts submitted

Quality and

Quantity of

Secondary

Posts

Fully developed posts indicate:

Clearly defined posts indicate:

Partially developed posts indicate:

No development of posts indicates:

No discussion posts submitted

 Thorough use

of key terms and concepts relevant to the discussion

 Correct use of key terms and concepts relevant to the discussion

 Minimal use

of key terms and

concepts relevant to the

discussion

 No knowledge

of the key terms and concepts relevant to the

discussion

 Real-life  Real-life  Real-life  No

Discussion Threads Grading Rubric

The Academic Dishonesty policy will be strictly followed and non-compliance with the policy will result in

consequences as outlined in that policy.

experiences fully relate to the discussion

experiences

do not fully relate to the discussion

experiences

do not relate to the discussion

application

of real-life experience

 Comprehensive demonstration

of analytical and cognitive thinking skills

 Demonstrates

of analytical and cognitive thinking skills

 Limited demonstrati

on of analytical and cognitive thinking skills

 No demonstrati

on of analytical and cognitive thinking skills

 Use of correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation with no errors

 Use of correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation with minimal errors

 Incorrect spelling, grammar, and punctuatio

n with multiple errors

 Incorrect spelling, grammar, and punctuatio

n with many errors

 Meets or exceeds the required number of secondary posts as defined by the Instructor;

posts are spread out over 3+ days

 Meets the required number of secondary posts as defined by the

Instructor;

posts are spread out over 2 days

 Did not post the required number of secondary posts as defined by the

Instructor;

posts are submitted

on the same day, prior to the last day

 Did not post the

required number of secondary posts as defined by the

Instructor;

posts are submitted

on the last day

SUMMARY OF WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS/ASSESSMENTS :

Week 1 Course Contract – Please review the contract located in the syllabus link,

electronically sign and submit the contract in the week 1 assessment

Read Chapters 6 and 7 in textbook

Review materials in supporting lesson links

Discussion Assignment #1 50 points

Respond to each of the questions below in your initial post no later than

Friday Your initial response provided contains a minimum of 200 words

Two additional posts (100 word minimum) are required on separate days

and may respond to other students' responses or additional questions

posted (Ex: Initial Post - Friday; Second post - Saturday; Third post -

Sunday) Posts submitted after Sunday evening will not be graded

1 Employees receive monetary and non-monetary benefits for the

performance of duties Many employers offer flexible work arrangements

What benefits and incentives do you prefer? In your response, rate the

importance of these benefits

2 Most individuals voluntarily comply with their tax obligations What factors

should be considered when creating a tax that is considered fair by most

people in a society?

3 Taxpayers are responsible to file a tax return every year Filling in the

forms by hand, tax preparation software and tax preparers are a few of the

methods of completing your income tax return Compare and contrast two

available tools Which method will you/did you use this year? Why?

Written Assignment #1 – 75 points Your homework assignment consists

of two problems listed below Please use the template to complete your

assignment

Problem 1 - Prepare an employee withholding sheet similar to Figure 6.2 of

the textbook, using the following information:

Mike Anderson, whose social security number is 999-00-9962, is paid

weekly He is single and has one withholding allowance He works in

Oregon *use Figure 6.3 and 6.4 to determine his income tax withholdings)

He worked 40 hours at his regular rate of $7.70 an hour and 6 overtime

hours last week In addition to the required deductions, he had $22 for

insurance, $12 for union dues, and $10 for charitable contributions withheld

from his paycheck

Problem 2 - Janette is a student with a baby-sitting service She’s unsure

whether she needs to file a federal tax return on her income She also wants

to know how long she needs to keep tax-related records Visit the sites listed

below and answer the following questions

Website: Internal Revenue

Servicehttp://www.irs.gov/individuals/students/article/0,,id=96674,00.html

Website:

Bankrate.comhttp://www.bankrate.com/brm/itax/tips/20010207a.aspWebsite:

Internal Revenue

Servicehttp://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=105111,00.html

1 What types of income typically received by students may be taxable?

2 Does everyone file a 1040EZ?

3 Besides your actual tax returns, what tax records should you keep?

APA Guidelines and Academic Dishonesty Quiz – (not included in

gradebook)

The APA quiz consists of 15 multiple choice/true false questions This is due

by Sunday evening, midnight of Week 1

Quiz #1 – 50 points

The Week 1 Quiz consists of 6 multiple choice questions worth 5 points

each and 2 short essays worth 10 points each

Week 2 Read Chapters 20, 8, and 9 in textbook

Review materials in supporting lessons links

Discussion Assignment #2 – 50 points

Respond to each of the questions below in your initial post no later than

Wednesday Your initial response provided contains a minimum of 200

words Two additional posts (100 word minimum) are required on separate

days and may respond to other students' responses or additional questions

posted (Ex: Initial Post - Wednesday; Second post - Friday; Third post -

Sunday) Posts submitted after Sunday evening will not be graded

1 Budgeting should begin early in your life Discuss how your budget is

based on personal values and choices and modified when new "life events"

occur Why do some individuals ignore planning and budgeting?

2 Checking accounts have many good features, such as overdraft

protection List banking services that appeal to you and explain why these

services are important

3 Discuss a contract that you have entered into and your obligations of the

contract Was it an expressed or implied contract? Explain

Mini-Project Budget – 150 points

The Mini-Budget consists of four sections Please use either the word

document or template attached to complete your Mini-Project Budget

Section 1

Complete the Current Budget/Cash Flow Statement by collecting all source

documents for gathering your monthly income and expenses Examples of

information include check registers, bank statements, pay stubs, pay

statements, child-support documents and other pertinent documents Input

the source document and income in the worksheet Gather source

documents for expenses including rental agreements, loan statements,

monthly billing statements, bank statements, check registers, cash receipts

and miscellaneous documents Input the source document and expense in

the worksheet

Section 2

Compile previous loan statements your have taken out to date Find the

source document and total the loan balances Document the interest rate

Determine your schooling expense on an annual basis Include tuition,

school fees, books, computers and additional items needed for your

education Enter this information in the worksheet

Section 3

Provide your anticipated monthly income by researching the pay rate for

your "future employment" Document this information in the source

document section and input data in the worksheet Enter additional sources

of income in the worksheet Provide anticipated monthly cash outflows The

first expense to incorporate is your student loan obligation Access the loan

calculator in Week 2 Additional Resources Enter the estimate loan balance,

interest rate and payment schedule to determine your monthly loan

payment Enter additional cash outflows

Section 4

Summary of Results - In a 400 word essay, discuss the following:

1 Describe the results of your cash flow statement Discuss income and

expense categories you have mastered and what you perceive are possible

areas of improvement

2 Needs are defined as "air and water" but our society can make us believe

differently How has society influenced your decision making? Does this

affect your choices in a positive or negative manner? How?

3 Do you formulate a plan for big purchases or events? How can the

decision-making process change your spending habits?

4 What aspect of financial planning is new to you? Explain

5 What type of contracts do you plan to enter into in the next 5 years? How

will this affect your budget?

Complete all parts of the Budget worksheet

Quiz #2 – 50 points

The Week 2 Quiz consists of 6 multiple choice worth 5 points each and 2

short essays worth 10 points each

Week 3 Read Chapters 10, 11, 12, 16, 17 and 18 and from the textbook

Review materials in supporting lesson links

Discussion Assignment #3 – 50 points

Respond to each of the questions below in your initial post no later than

Wednesday Your initial response provided contains a minimum of 200

words Two additional posts (100 word minimum) are required on separate

days and may respond to other students' responses or additional questions

posted (Ex: Initial Post - Wednesday; Second post - Friday; Third post -

Sunday) Posts submitted after Sunday evening will not be graded

1 The Federal Trade Commission estimates there are as many as 9 million

Americans that are subject to identify theft each year Identify theft is on the

rise with the advancement of electronic media Have you or anyone you

know ever been the victim of identity theft? Do an internet search of identity

theft stories How did it happen? How do you protect yourself from identity

theft?

2 Credit cards, secured and unsecured loans and installment loans are

used for short-term and long-term financing Without sharing personal or

confidential information, (no institution names please) discuss the types of

creditors you are currently dealing with and explain your responsibility

towards these creditors How do you plan to fill your obligation?

3 Investments may take the form of savings, certificates of deposits, mutual

funds, stocks, bonds and retirement accounts Identify criteria you have

used or plan to use to evaluate an investment What criteria is most

important to you? Why?

Written Assignment #3 – 75 points

Problem 1

Objectives:

1 Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using credit

2 Describe the responsibilities of consumer credit