FINC 321 WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENTS

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FINC 321 WEEK 1 HOMEWORK:

ASSIGNMENT 1. Homework #1:

· Chapter 1: 1.2 #3 (p. 20)

· How does the health of the economy affect your financial health? How healthy is the U.S. economy right now? On what measures do you base your judgments? How will your appreciation of the big picture help you in planning for your future?

· Chapter 2: 2.1 #4 (p. 38)

· You need a jacket, boots, and gloves, but the jacket you want will use up all the money you have available for outerwear. What is your opportunity cost if you buy the jacket? What is your sunk cost if you buy the jacket? How could you modify your consumption to reduce opportunity cost? If you buy the jacket but find that you need the boots and gloves, how could you modify your budget to compensate for your sunk cost?

· Chapter 3: 3.2 #2 (p. 76)

1. Calculate your debt-to-income ratio and other ratios using the financial tools at Biztech (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/tools/modebtratio.htm). According to the calculation, are you carrying a healthy debt load? Why, or why not? If not, what can you do to improve your situation?

ASSIGNMENT 2. Social Security Paper (FINC 321):

Social Security Paper (3 - 6 pages)

Research the development and administration of the U.S. Social Security program. Include its history, current structure, and calculation of benefits; also, include other benefits available through the program.

The Social Security paper is worth 10 percent of your final grade.

ASSIGNMENT 3. Play Money Paper (3 - 5 pages)

Pretend that you have $10,000 to invest for four weeks. You are to "invest" this money in stocks or mutual funds and to track your investments on a weekly basis for four weeks (see schedule for due date). Pick five different stocks or funds to follow.

Write a report on

1 why you selected the investments you did

2 whether any noteworthy company results, news events, or economic events impacted your investments during this period (show your gains or losses for the period)

3 how your investments' performance compared with the performance of the S&P 500 index during this period

4 your tracking of the following three stock market indexes:

· Dow Jones Industrial Average

· S&P 500 stock index

· Russell 2000 index for small caps

The play money paper is worth 10 percent of your final grade.

ASSIGNMENT 4. Personal Financial Plan (8–12 pages)

Develop a personal financial plan detailing the financial goals that you and/or your family have developed. This is a staged project.

5 Stage 1: Analyze your personal financial situation using appropriate financial tools.

6 Stage 2: Identify short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. Rank your goals in order of importance as they relate to the financial resources available and expected. Estimate the financial commitment for each goal.

7 Stage 3: Consider all factors we have covered in class, including budgeting, time value of money, asset protection, debt/credit, savings, investing, and estate planning.

Incorporate the first two stages to complete the development of the financial plan. This is the capstone assignment of this class, so careful preparation is needed to illustrate concept understanding and application.

The personal financial plan is worth 20 percent of your final grade.

Personal Financial Plan Rubric

	Exceptional	Acceptable	Minimum Effort	Points Earned
Cover Page	Contains graphic/illustration, name of project, your name, course name, and semester; creativity is evident	Contains name of project, your name, course name, and semester	Contains some of the following: name of project, your name, course name, and semester
Table of Contents	Heading, sections clearly labeled with leaders and page numbers	Heading, sections labeled with page numbers	Missing sections, not clear
Career Planning	Describe life situation providing details related to marital status, children, occupation, and income. Investigate career. Determine annual salary. If married, provide spouse’s. Include job advertisement.	Describe life situation providing details related to marital status, children, occupation, and income. Provide annual salary. If married, provide spouse’s.	Identify marital status, children, occupation, and income. Determine annual salary. If married, provide spouse’s.
Financial Goals	Clearly written; contains at least two short-term financial goals and three long-term financial goals	Clearly written; contains at least one short-term goals and two short-term goals	Goals are not clearly written, contains only one short-term and one long-term financial goal
Banking Services	Well written, clearly explains services provided at various institutions (at least three), materials provided (from at least one), institution and services you will use are identified, justification is provided for choice of institution and services	Well written, clearly explains services provided at various institutions (at least two), institution and services you will use are identified, justification is provided for choice of institution and services	Well written, explains services provided at institution you will use, identifies services you will use, explanation is provided for choice of institution and services
Housing Decision	Information and materials provided on investigation of housing options available, choice is explained in detail, sources of credit are explained and your selection is identified and explained in detail, monthly expenses related to your decisions are provided	Information provided on investigation of housing options available, choice is explained in detail, sources of credit are explained and your selection is identified and explained in detail, monthly expenses related to your decisions are provided	Housing options available are identified, choice is explained, sources of credit and your selection are identified, monthly expenses related to your decisions are provided
Automobile	Information and materials provided on investigation of auto options available, choice is explained in detail, sources of credit are explained and your selection is identified and explained in detail, monthly expenses related to your decisions are provided	Information provided on investigation of auto options available, choice is explained in detail, sources of credit are explained and your selection is identified and explained in detail, monthly expenses related to your decisions are provided	Auto options available are identified, choice is explained, sources of credit and your selection are identified, monthly expenses related to your decisions are provided
Insurance	Detailed description of types of insurance you need, materials provided, explanation of types and providers and why you made these choices, monthly expense related to your decisions are provided	Description of types of insurance you need, explanation of types and providers and why you made these choices, monthly expense related to your decisions are provided	Identify types of insurance you need, explain types and providers, monthly expense related to your decisions are provided
Investments	Detailed explanation and investigation materials of different types of investments, justification for your selection of at least two types of investments, detailed explanation of expenses and risk associated with the investments selected	Detailed explanation of different types of investments, justification for your selection of at least one type of investment, detailed explanation of expenses and risk associated with the investment you selected	Explanation of different types of investments, justification for your selection of at least one type of investment, identify expenses and risk associated with the investment you selected
Monthly Budget	Detailed monthly budget which includes income and expenses, detailed explanation of whether budget will allow you to meet your financial goals (see above), explanation as to whether or not you had to make changes to have a zero or positive balance	Detailed monthly budget which includes income and expenses, detailed explanation of whether budget will allow you to meet your financial goals (see above)	Monthly budget which includes income and expenses, explanation of whether budget will allow you to meet your financial goals (see above)