The main feature of Personal Finance is its hands-on approach keyed to the concepts students need to build their own financial plans. The text’s seven parts are all pieces of a financial plan; Chapter 21 is the capstone. A running example throughout the book and a variety of end-of-chapter cases reinforce the practical aspects of planning.
Key Features
- The Building Your Own Financial Plan chapter-ending case studies are presented as an integrated series of exercises and worksheets that represent a portion of a financial plan.
- A Certified Financial Planner Exercise is contained in the last chapter (Chapter 21). This exercise challenges students to offer advice on how financial planning should be adjusted in response to a change in economic conditions.
- An Interactive Approach. Personal Finance’s interactive approach incorporates Internet-based resources along with many examples, problems, and ongoing case studies, all of which focus on providing students with hands-on practice applying financial concepts.
- Real-Life Scenarios. The text uses ongoing scenarios woven throughout all the chapters to illustrate the interdependence of personal finance decisions.
- Learning Tools
- Chapter Introductions.
- Learning Objectives.
- Explanation by Example.
- Marginal Glossary.
- NEW! Psychology of Personal Finance Boxed Feature and Questions.
- Economic Impact.
- Summary.
- Review Questions.
- Ethical Dilemmas.
- Video Exercises. .
- Financial Literacy Tests.
- Projects.
New to This Edition
- Attention is given to the financial crisis and economic recession where appropriate.
- A new boxed feature called Psychology of Personal Finance explains how financial planning decisions are affected by psychology. There is also an exercise at the end of each chapter that asks students to evaluate if their personal finance decisions regarding a specific behavior discussed in the chapter is influenced by psychology.
- A new boxed feature called Free Apps for Personal Finance identifies free apps that can be applied to help you make informed personal finance decisions.
- Chapter 1 has been substantially revised to thoroughly explain how the various financial planning components introduced there are integrated. Thus, students quickly see how they begin with budgeting as the foundation (in Chapter 2) and then additional components are covered in each chapter to develop a complete financial plan.
- Chapter 6 on Managing Your Money has been revised to reinforce the need to be conservative when investing money that will be needed to pay bills in the near future.
- Chapter 7 on Assessing and Securing Credit now gives more attention to how credit is commonly misused and can lead to credit problems.
- Chapter 8 on Managing Your credit has been revised to ensure a clear flow of concepts, and emphasis is now given to The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (also called Credit CARD Act) of 2009. This act was passed in an effort to ensure that consumers who pursued credit card services are treated fairly and have access to complete information about the fees and other provisions of the credit agreement. Chapter 8 describes many provisions of the act that can provide you with more protection.
- Chapter 9 on Personal Loans devotes more attention to how excessive borrowing to buy an expensive car can complicate all other personal finance decisions.
- Chapter 10 on Purchasing and Financing a Home devotes more attention to how excessive borrowing to buy an expensive home can complicate all other personal finance decisions.In addition, more emphasis is given to determining how much you can afford when buying a home, the impact of economic conditions on home values, and how the financial crisis affected the home values.
- Chapter 14 on Investing Fundamentals devotes more attention to how some types of investments that could generate high returns are also subject to much risk (potential for large losses).
- Chapter 15 on Investing in Stocks now more thoroughly explains why stock prices change, and also explains the impact of the international environment on stock prices. It also elaborates on the limitations when analyzing stocks, as even the most thorough stock analysis can lead to investment decisions that result in major losses.
- Chapter 18 on Asset Allocation now places more emphasis on the need to properly assess risk when investing among various types of assets.
- Chapter 19 on Retirement Planning now gives more attention to the importance of planning retirement at a young age, and illustrates how individuals who save for retirement at an early age can possibly retire much earlier or will have much more to spend during their retirement years.
- Career Planning (in Appendix A) has been expanded substantially to explain how to select a college, how to select a major, and whether to pursue graduate school.
Contents
- 1. Overview of a Financial Plan
PART I. TOOLS FOR FINANCIAL PLANNING
- 2. Planning with Personal Financial Statements
- 3. Applying Time Value Concepts
- 4. Using Tax Concepts for Planning
PART II. MANAGING YOUR LIQUIDITY
- 5. Banking and Interest Rates
- 6. Managing Your Money
- 7. Assessing and Securing Your Credit
- 8. Managing Your Credit
PART III. PERSONAL FINANCING
- 9. Personal Loans
- 10. Purchasing and Financing a Home
PART IV. PROTECTING YOUR WEALTH
- 11. Auto and Homeowner’s Insurance
- 12. Health and Disability Insurance
- 13. Life Insurance
PART V. PERSONAL INVESTING
- 14. Investing Fundamentals
- 15. Investing in Stocks
- 16. Investing in Bonds
- 17. Investing in Mutual Funds
- 18. Asset Allocation
PART VI. RETIREMENT AND ESTATE PLANNING
- 19. Retirement Planning
- 20. Estate Planning
PART VII. SYNTHESIS OF FINANCIAL PLANNING
- 21. Integrating the Components of a Financial Plan
- Financial Literacy Post-Test
- Appendix A. Your Career
- Appendix B. Projects
- Appendix C. Financial Tables
Book Details
- Paperback: 696 pages
- Publisher: Prentice Hall; 5 edition (©2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0132994348
- ISBN-13: 978-0132994347
- Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 1 inches
- List Price: $171.80