week 1
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Incorporating time-value-of-money concepts and information from well-developed personal financial statements, identify your long-term financial goals and discuss the pertinent aspects for realizing these long-term financial goals. Explain the choices that you must make and how career planning will also fit into your plan.
diss 2
Opportunity Cost (graded) |
Identify, quantify, and discuss the opportunity costs that arise from your decision to attend DeVry University. Using the concept of present value analysis, how would you justify your decision to acquire a college degree?
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Disposable Income (graded) |
Identify and present all taxes you pay during the course of a typical year. Include taxes that are called fees (such fees are really taxes by another name). Some of the taxes you pay may have to be estimated (i.e., sales taxes). What is the percentage proportion of these taxes in relation to your income, and—with respect to your disposable income (that is, income after taxes)—what are the implications insofar as your spending behavior is concerned?
diss 2
Alternative Savings Vehicles (graded) |
Identify the savings (investment) instruments you use or have used in the past (if you haven’t used any, identify those that you are most likely to use). Now, identify a number of alternative savings (investment) instruments that you have not used (or are least likely to use). Compare your two lists. Analyze the trade-offs that emerge. Why have you selected certain instruments in the past? Why may you use specific savings (investment) instruments in the future? Why will you decide to not use certain instruments in the future?
Hazardous to Your Health! (graded) |
Using the Internet, locate a source that identifies the number of personal bankruptcies that have occurred in the United States during a relatively recent
Credit Card Balances (graded) |
As a proportion of your personal net worth (total assets minus total liabilities), identify the proportion of credit card debt you currently have outstanding (or have had outstanding at some point in your life). Identify the expenditures that have given rise to your credit card debt. Which expenditures were discretionary and which were not? Discuss the implications. Are there any strategies that you can implement in order to better manage and reduce credit card debt? What strategies have you used?
Portfolio Diversification (graded) |
Identify any long-term investment instruments you use or have used in the past (if you haven’t used any, identify those that you are most likely to use). Include any retirement funds established at work and pension/retirement contributions made by your employer. Assess whether or not your overall investment portfolio is efficiently diversified. Why is there a lack of diversification? What steps can you take to modify this? If you plan to invest long term, what steps will you take towards diversification?
Portfolio Risk (graded) |
Using the investment portfolio you identified for this week’s first discussion question, informally identify the beta for each of the asset components of this portfolio. Include your reasoning for the betas you have identified. (If you have not formally invested in a portfolio yet, find 3–5 asset components that you would want to invest in as a portfolio, and informally identify the beta for these asset components). Now, identify the overall beta of your investment portfolio and explain how you arrived at this result. What implications can you draw from this exercise? How does each component beta differ from the portfolio beta, and why?
Payment Obligations (graded) |
As a percentage of your estimated monthly disposable income (which you identified in Week 2), what proportion is represented by your monthly automobile, mortgage, and/or rental payments? What is the percentage remaining after those monthly expenses have been deducted? Assess and discuss the implications in terms of how they influence your personal financial planning.
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Subsistence Spending (graded) |
Suppose you found yourself in a position where your monthly level of income was cut in half. Assume this misfortune will persist for the long term. Discuss the effect such a salary reduction would have on your current lifestyle. What conclusions can you draw? What changes would you make regarding your expenses and how would you implement any new financial strategies?
Insurance Trade-Offs (graded) |
What forms of insurance coverage do you currently carry and pay for? As a percentage of your estimated monthly disposable income (which you identified in Week 2), what proportion do these coverages represent? Are there areas where you feel you are underinsured? Overinsured? What trade-offs are involved in determining the amount of insurance coverage you currently carry?
Lowering Insurance Costs and Risks (graded) |
What strategies might you implement to lower your insurance costs, while at the same time minimizing the risks involved in lowering such coverage? For example, in the area of health insurance, ask whether you are a smoker. In the area of auto insurance, how could your driving habits change?
Zero-Based Asset (graded) |
U.S. Treasury bills held to maturity have a beta of zero. Why? Discuss the implications of this risk-return trade-off with respect to your overall investment portfolio as you approach retirement age. Are there any assets that you would avoid investing in as you near retirement age?
Home Valuation and Estate Taxes (graded) |
Discuss the factors that may lead to an appreciation in the value of
