FIN 420 EXPERT Expect Success/fin420expertdotcom

1. FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT www.fin420expert.com FIN 420 EXPERT Expect Success /fin420expertdotcom

2. FIN 420 Week 1 Individual Assignment Identify Personal Financial Goals FIN 420 Week 1 DQ 1 FIN 420 Week 1DQ 2 FIN 420 Week 2 Individual Assignment Worksheets 6 and 7 FIN 420 Week 2 LT Deliverable (Update on Final Project) FIN 420 Week 2 DQ 1 FIN 420 Week 2DQ 2 FIN 420 Week 3 Individual Assignment Personal Financial Plan FIN 420 Week 3 LT Deliverable (Update on Final Project) FIN 420 Week 3 DQ 1 FIN 420 Entire Course

3. Describe your current budgeting system. What factors influence your financial decisions? What are the benefits or concerns of your current budgeting system? FIN 420 Week 1 DQ 1

4. Ch. 1 of Focus on Personal Finance introduces eight components of personal financial planning. Describe three components of personal financial planning. Visit one of the Key websites suggested on the corresponding pages of Focus on Personal Finance for each of the three components you described. What information did you find most valuable on the websites you visited? FIN 420 Week 1 DQ 2

5. Write a 350- to 700-word personal finance mission statement that describes where you want to be financially and how you want to get there. Communicate the following in your mission statement: Personal values Financial goals Future vision An easy action to take to meet your mission A difficult action to take to meet your mission Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines. Note. The information that students use in individual assignments remains confidential between the student and the instructor.Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment. FIN 420 Week 1 Individual Assignment Personal Finance Mission Statement

6. Consider your personal cash flows. How would you adjust cash outflows (i.e. adjust your budget) if your household income was cut in half? If your cash inflows increased, how would you reallocate your surplus to meet your personal needs and objectives? How do you use credit as a part of your personal financial plan? FIN 420 Week 2 DQ 1

7. Many different types of financial institutions exist. Differentiate between deposit institutions and non-deposit institutions. Provide two examples of deposit and non-deposit financial institutions with a brief explanation of each. How can you use each of these financial institutions to manage your cash flows and develop or enhance your personal financial plan? FIN 420 Week 2 DQ 2

8. Complete the Personal Finance Problems - Week 2. Write a 750- to 1,050-word summary of the problems in which the team includes the following: What influence does present and future value of money have on the different scenarios? What is the role of risk in determining decisions to diversify or how assets are allocated? Submit the team's answers to the questions including all calculations and a summary of the results.Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment. FIN 420 Week 2 Individual Assignment Personal Finance Problems and Summary

9. 1 Carla Lopez deposits $2,500 a year into her retirement account. If these funds have an average earning of 8 percent over the 40 years until her retirement, what will be the value of her retirement account? 2 An ATM with a service fee of $2 is used by a person 100 times in a year. What would be the future value in 10 years (use a 3 percent rate) of the annual amount paid in ATM fees? 3 If a person spends $10 a week on coffee (assume $500 a year), what would be the future value of that amount over 10 years if the funds were deposited in an account earning 3 percent? 4 A financial company that advertises on television will pay you $60,000 now for annual payments of $10,000 that you are expected to receive for a legal settlement over the next 10 years. What is the present value of this assuming the time value of the money at 10%? FIN 420 Week 2 Personal Finance Quiz

10. Evaluate your personal risk tolerance using Exhibit 11-2 A Quick Test to Measure Investment Risk in Ch. 11 of Focus on Personal Finance. Based on your results, were you considered more conservative or less conservative? What factors affected your investment choices? Consider a friend or family member who is more conservative or less conservative than you. How do their money management behaviors differ from your own? FIN 420 Week 3 DQ 1

11. Financial experts agree that having an emergency fund is an essential component of a comprehensive financial plan. However, advice regarding the number of months of household expenses the emergency fund should cover varies between 3 and 9 months. Taking into account the current financial environment, how many months of expenses would you recommend for an emergency fund and why? What are three investment options that are appropriate for an emergency fund? Which of these investment options offer the best returns? What reasons might encourage you to forego a higher return on your emergency funds? FIN 420 Week 3 DQ 2

12. Complete Worksheet 37 in Focus on Personal Finance, “Your Financial Plan – Evaluating Corporate Bonds.” Explain the principle of asset allocation. Using the Internet or library research, prepare a 2-minute presentation describing why the principle of asset allocation is important when establishing an investment program. Assume you are 59 years old, want to retire in 6 years, and currently have an investment portfolio valued at $550,000 invested in technology stocks. After talking with friends and relatives, you have decided that you have “too many eggs in one basket.” Based on this information, use the asset allocation method described in this chapter and use the following table to diversify your investment portfolio. Then answer the following two questions: o What are the advantages of asset allocation? FIN 420 Week 3 Individual Problem Worksheet

13. Assume that you are choosing an investment for your retired parents. What are the advantages and disadvanges of each of the following? o a bond issued by the federal government, o a state or local government, o or a corporation? Which would you recommend for your retired parents? Justify your answer. Five years ago, you purchased a $1,000 corporate bond issued by General Electric. The interest rate for the bond was 5%. Comparable bonds are paying 6% today. FIN 420 Week 3 Learning Team Problems

14. Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) have received a great deal of bad press due to the tremendous number of foreclosures resulting from families who could not afford the loan payments once the interest rates increased. Do you believe this loan option was used appropriately in recent years? Why or why not? Under what circumstances does the use of ARMs make sense? Please explain. FIN 420 Week 4 DQ 1

15. Visit a site such as www.bankrate.com to determine current rates for both a 60-month and a 36-month loan on a new car where the buyer must finance $20,000. Using the loan calculator, what is the difference in monthly payments between the 60-month loan and the 36-month loan? Review the amortization tables. What is the difference in total interest one would pay over the life of these two loans? What do these differences show you about the true cost of the car? FIN 420 Week 4 DQ 2

16. Choose a mutual fund family such as Vanguard, American Funds, T. Rowe Price, and so forth. Identify one mutual fund from that family for each of the following categories: Actively managed common stock fund Fixed income fund Balanced fund International fund Fund devoted to retirement investing Write a 350- to 700-word mutual fund evaluation for each mutual fund using the worksheet of your financial plan as a template. Include the following in your evaluation: FIN 420 Week 4 Individual Assignment Mutual Fund Evaluation

17. 1 As a stockholder of Kentucky Gas and Oil, you receive its annual report. In the financial statements, the firm reported after-tax earnings of $1,200,000 and has issued 1,500,000 shares of common stock. The stock is currently selling for $24 a share. What is the per earnings share for Kentucky Gas and Oil? 2 Sarah and James Hernandez purchased 150 shares of Cisco Systems stock at $18 a share. One year later, they sold the stock for $25.40 a share. They paid a broker a $32 commission when they purchased the stock and a $40 commission when they sold the stock. During the 12-month period the couple owned the stock, Cisco Systems paid dividends that totaled $0.24. Calculate the Hernandezes’ total return for this investment. FIN 420 Week 4 Personal Finance Quiz

18. Life insurance is a topic many people do not like to discuss, but understanding your family’s needs and planning appropriately in the event of a premature death is also part of a comprehensive financial plan. Outlined in Ch. 10 are four methods for estimating life insurance needs. Which insurance options are most appropriate for your family situation? Based on what you have identified as most appropriate for you, do you currently have enough life insurance? If not, how can you close this gap? FIN 420 Week 5 DQ 1

19. Consider your current financial plan. Based on what you have learned about your financial goals, risk tolerance, and risk and return of various investment options, what adjustments should you make to the asset allocation of your investment portfolio? What specific actions do you need to take to make those adjustments or to establish your investment portfolio? What adjustments will you need to make to your budget and investment portfolio to include adequate insurance?Consider your current financial plan. Based on what you have learned about your financial goals, risk tolerance, and risk and return of various investment options, what adjustments should you make to the asset allocation of your investment portfolio? What specific actions do you need to take to make those adjustments or to establish your investment portfolio? What adjustments will you need to make to your budget and investment portfolio to include adequate insurance? FIN 420 Week 5 DQ 2

20. FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT www.fin420expert.com FIN 420 EXPERT Expect Success /fin420expertdotcom