FINANCE 311
PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING
Course Syllabus & Policies
Spring TERM 2011
Time: M,W,F 13:45 – 14:45Class Location: 255 Merrill
Instructor: Gene Padgham Office Hours: 11:00 – 1:00 M, W,F
Rm. 118, Merrill Bldg or by appointment
Phone: 782 - 5775 e-mail:
Website: http:/www/jsu.edu/depart/ccba/gpadgham
REQUIRED TEXT: Personal Financial Planning, by Gitman and Joehnk,
12th edition, South-Western, Cengage Learning
EXAMINATIONS AND GRADING PROCEDURE:
Examinations will be designed to test your knowledge and proficiency of the subject. The style of exam will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and problem solving.
Your final grade will be determined by performance on written exams, timely completion of assignments, and participation in class discussions and assigned activities. The weights are as follows:
First Exam 28%
Second Exam 28
Final Exam 28
Reading & Report 5
Investment Project 5
Assignments, Quizzes. etc. 6 TOTAL 100%
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
(1) To familiarize students with the major aspects of personal financial management,
including planning, purchasing, borrowing, insuring, taxation, and investing.
(2) Development and enhancement of skills needed to effectively manage personal
finances. Problems, situational exercises, and cases will be used extensively for
improving proficiency.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Students are expected to complete readings and problem assignments as
scheduled. On occasion, solutions to problems and cases may have to be submitted to the instructor for evaluation.
COURSE POLICY:
ATTENDANCE:
For the Spring Semester 2011, class attendance in this course will be voluntary. It is the responsibility of the student to attend classes, and when an absence occurs, it is the student's obligation to arrange for obtaining missed information, assignments, or any other requirements. Repeated tardiness will not be tolerated.
EXAMINATIONS:
Students are expected to take all examinations when scheduled. If there is a legitimate reason why a student cannot take an exam at the scheduled time, a makeup exam will be given at a time to be determined by the instructor.
Any student who receives failing grades during this course is urged to discuss this with the instructor.
CCBA Student Code of Conduct: Students are expected to adhere to the CCBA Student Code of
Conduct which is posted in various locations around Merrill Building as well as on the CCBA web site.
Academic Honesty:
If I believe an exam has been compromised, I reserve the right to retest the whole class or any individual in the class. (Check the Academic Honesty Policy online at Violations of the University's academic code include, but are not limited to: possession or use of unauthorized materials during exams; providing information to another student, sharing information on in-class exercises. Violations of this code may result in academic penalties, including receiving an "F" in this course.
Each student agrees to the following statements of student behavior:
1. I agree that I, and only I, will be the one completing and submitting class materials (homework, exercises, exams, written projects, etc.) in my name.
2. I agree that I will not directly copy or plagiarize material from articles, books, publications, the Internet, other students’ work, or any other source. I am familiar with, and I agree not to violate, copyright laws. If small amounts of material from other sources are used as part of any class assignment, I agree to clearly indicate such and properly cite the source.
3. I agree that I will not share answers to homework assignments, quizzes, exams, or any other course material with fellow classmates.
4. I acknowledge that failure to comply with any of the above statements may result in failure of an assignment, removal from the course, failure in the course, and discipline action deemed appropriate by the instructor in his sole discretion and/or policies and procedures set forth by the JSU’s Academic Honor Policy found in the Student Handbook under the University Policies link:
The academic misconduct policy of the university will be followed in this course.
DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS:
Any individual who qualifies for reasonable accommodations under The American With Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 should contact the Instructor immediately.
COURSE OUTLINE FOR PERSONAL FINANCE
DATE TOPIC ASSIGNMENT PROBLEMS
Jan 6 Introduction Ch. 1 Case 1.2
Financial Statements & Plans 2 1, 3, 4, 6,8,10 Taxation 3 2, 4, 6 & Case 3.1
to
Aspects of Savings 4 4, 5,6,8 & Case 4.1
Feb 9Major Purchases 5 4,5,7,12, & Cases 5.1 & 5.3
**** FIRST EXAM ****
Feb 10 Managing Credit 6 2, 6,10, 13 & Case 6.2
" " 7 5, 9, 11, & Case 7.2
to Life Insurance 8 1, 5, & Case 8.2
Health Insurance 9 2, 5, & Case 9.1
Mar 11 Property Insurance 10 2, 3, 5, & Case 10.1
**** SECOND EXAM ****
Mar 21Purchasing Stocks & Bonds 11 5, 6, 7,12, & Case 11.1
Making Transactions 12 1, 2, 10,13, & Case 12.1
to Other Investments 13 2, 4, 9, 10, & Case 13.2
Retirement Planning 14 2, 3, 6, 9, & Case 14.2
Apr 15Estate Planning 15 4, 6,
**** FINAL EXAM ***
Friday April 22, from 13:30 – 15:30
Note: March 21st is the last day to drop or withdraw without academic penalty.
April 8th is the last day to drop passing or withdraw.
READING ASSIGNMENT
You are to read an article concerning some aspect of personal finance, provide a typewritten summary of that article, and also make a brief oral report on your reading. Be sure that you properly and sufficiently identify your source. Limit your selection to publications dated January 2010 to present. There are a number of relevant articles on such topics as money management, investing, buying life, health and property insurance, income taxation, purchasing housing and automobiles, leasing, pension plans, estate preparation, and so forth that are pertinent to this course.
Following is a list of publications that you may find helpful for locating pertinent topics, but you are not limited to these. Web sites containing information pertinent to personal finance are plentiful and can be utilized (Visit as indicated at the end of most chapters.)
List of Publications
Changing Times
Consumer’s Digest
Money
SmartMoney
Worth
Personal Investor
American Demographics
Inc.
Barrons
U.S. News and World Report
Business Week
Time
Forbes
Fortune
Wall Street Journal
Indicate the article selected, publication, and date of publication no later than class meeting on Wednesday, February 9th. A schedule for presentation, beginning the week of February 21st will be made available to you.
Investment Assignment for Spring 2011
As part of the course requirements, each student will be making a stock market investment early in the semester and tracking its performance. The basis for this activity is an online site that provides an imaginary $100,000 account. Each student will have a separate account.
Requirements:
(1) You are to select a minimum of five stocks. You have flexibility in deciding the amount you wish to put into each security. If you wish to trade your securities during the semester, that is acceptable. The only restriction is that your portfolio maintain a minimum of five stocks.
(2) Every other Wednesday, turn in a brief report on the current status of your account, and what changes occurred during the past two weeks.
(2) At the end of the semester, you will turn in a brief accounting of your investment experience. This should include the rate of return you earned on each security in your portfolio, the annualized rate of return for the overall portfolio, and a short explanation of why you selected the securities in your portfolio. Also please include a statement as to how this exercise benefited you, if at all, and how the exercise might be done differently to enhance its value as a learning tool. This summary report is to be based on portfolio data for April 8th, and the report is due no later than April1 13th.
Everyone is expected to have an account established and their initial selections completed no later than January 14th.