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Exercise 3

1. Complete the economic indicator worksheet by looking at the specified websites. Write your answers to the questions in the textbox section of the assignment link.

· Exercise 3: Economic Indicators

· It is important to know what is going on in the economy. Please look up the following websites and attach the answers on the comments section.

· 1. From the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics ( www.BLS.gov ), go to the “Unemployment” link and then to the “National Unemployment Rate” link. Scroll down to “The Employment Situation” and it will give you the Unemployment Rate (“UeR” in % for last month) in the first sentence. Report the Unemployment Rate.

· 2. From www.BLS.gov , go to “Inflation & Prices.” Go to the “consumer price index” link. Scroll down to the “CPI News Releases.” Look under “Consumer Price Index” and report the change in CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) for the most recent month (as a percentage). Make sure to use the seasonally adjusted rate.

· 3. From www.BEA.gov , “The Gross Domestic Product” (GDP) is available. Look at the Gross Domestic Product link under the “National Section.” View the “Gross Domestic Product” link next to the news release. Report the quarterly change in GDP (as a percentage).

2. The other worksheet below is for balancing your checkbook. Fill out the checkbook using the following information. Once complete, attach the document to the assignment link.Mary received her monthly statement and it shows a balance of $219.50 as of Dec. 15th. She went to the bank on Dec 22nd and deposited $200.00. She deposited another $477.50 on December 23rd. She wrote 3 checks: check #1011 for $100.00; check #1012 for $45.00; and check #1013 for $290.00. 

Exercise 3: Check Reconciliation

1. Outstanding Deposits (not included in your statement)	2. Outstanding Checks (not included in your statement)
Date	Amount		Check Number	Amount

1. Ending balance from your bank statement	$ _______
2. Add total outstanding deposits	+ _______
3. Subtract total outstanding checks	- _______
4. New balance (should equal your checkbook balance after you record interest and fees in your checkbook register)	= ________

Exercise 4

1. Pick any 2 calculators at Money Management International . Paste the information entered and your results into a Microsoft Word document and attach it in the assignment link. Make sure that you list the title of the calculator, and ensure there is a clear separation between the 2 calculators. The primary purpose of this assignment is learning how to enter the correct information and get the desired results.

2. Go to Zillow for a free estimate of the value of your house (you can use your address or any address). Put the selected address and value in the textbox section in the assignment link. Remember that this is just a rough estimate.

3. Use time value of money (your financial calculator or Excel as you did in Module/Week 2) to answer the following question: I have $3,000.00 in Credit Card debt. If I can pay $100.00 a month, how long will it take to pay it off? My current interest rate is 18%. Remember to include your inputs.

Exercise 5

1. By going to MoneyChimp , you can either enter your own information or calculate a married couple filing jointly that makes $62,000. In the textbox section of the assignment link, record what amount you used (either $62,000 or your taxable income), the Tax amount, "as a percentage of income," and the Tax Bracket. You should have 4 numbers in your submission.

2. In your reading, you discovered that everyone has the option to take the standard deduction or itemize their deductions. Assume someone is married, combined they make $45,000, and own a house on which they owe $100,000. They give 10% of their income to charity, pay 5.5% interest on their mortgage (they have an interest-only loan and have made no principal reductions), and had $3,200 in medical expenses. Would they be better off to use the standard deduction or itemize? Read the information in your notes and at WorldWideWebTax to decide. Make sure that you show your work on each circumstance and the overall benefit of the method you determined to be best.

3. Use Time Value of Money (financial calculator or Excel) to answer the following prompt: I owe $4,000 in taxes. I have to make 12 monthly payments at 18%. Calculate what the monthly payment would be.

Exercise 6

1. How much life insurance do you need? Using the MSN Money Life Insurance Calculator , enter the information and post your results in the textbox section of the assignment link. You do NOT need to get actual quotes, just see how much you need.

2. Decide which health care plan you would choose. Looking at eHealth Insurance , enter your information (or you can make up information), and then pick 3 companies to compare. Again, you do not need to input personal information. You should only be putting a gender, birth date, tobacco use, college student, and zip code. Copy and paste the results of the 3 companies that you compared into a Microsoft Word document and attach it in the assignment link below. Choose the 1 plan that you would suggest and explain why you chose that particular plan.

Exercise 7

1. It is important to know what the standard rates are. Look at MoneyCafe . Click on more interest rates. Read through the definitions and report the rates for each: Prime Rate, 1 Year Treasury, LIBOR, and Certificates of Deposit Index.

2. Go to Yahoo.com, click on Yahoo Finance, enter Coke in the "symbol(s)" search box.

1. Step (a): Record the last closing price (for example, Previous Close - yesterday's closing price)

2. Step (b): Record the change (Current Price minus Prev Close) for the day (up or down and how many dollars & cents)

3. Step (c): Divide your change for the day (from b above) by the last closing price (from a above). The result is typically something like 0.1234 or 0.0123. Convert the decimal to percent (such as 12.34 or 1.23%).

· Example:

· Step (a): Last closing price (Previous Close) of Coke = 66.26

· Step (b): Change for the day (up or down) = -$.05

· Step (c): Divide (b) by (a) = -$.05/$66.26 = 0.00075 = -.08% <-- R.O.I. in percent.

· Find the Yield to Maturity on the following bond. I can buy a $1,000 bond for $900. I get $50 a year and it matures in 20 years. Remember this is a time value of money problem, so you need to use your financial calculator or Excel.

Exercise 8

1. Go to CNNMoney and complete the planner with your personal information. What is the chance that you will reach your goal as is? Click the adjust button under improve your plan. How much do you need to invest every year to reach your goal?

2. Answer the following 2 questions using time value of money (your financial calculator or Excel).

1. I can only put away $1,000 a year toward retirement. I am 22 and plan on retiring at 65 and earning 6%. How much will I have at retirement?

2. I want to be able to have $50,000 a year during retirement. I want to make sure that I can have it until I am 100 years old. I plan to retire at 65. I can earn 6% How much do I need to have at retirement to be able to make it?