Managing personal finances efficiently is a significant challenge faced by many, often leading to financial insecurity and stress. The complexity of financial planning, ranging from budgeting to investment and estate planning, can be overwhelming, especially when navigating through life's various stages and economic changes. This confusion can result in missed opportunities and poor financial decisions.
"Personal Financial Planning for Accountants," provides a comprehensive solution to these challenges. It covers all major areas of personal financial planning, including time value calculations, career planning, insurance, home buying, investing, retirement, and estate planning. Participants will learn to recognize the personal financial planning process, understand the impact of economic factors on financial planning, make informed investment decisions, and effectively plan for retirement and estate management. This course equips individuals with the knowledge and tools necessary to secure their financial future and make confident financial decisions at every stage of life.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
Chapter 1
Recognize the personal financial planning process.
Identify the objectives and key areas of personal financial planning.
Recognize how the stages in life affect financial planning.
Recognize how inflation and other economic factors affect financial planning
Chapter 2
Identify how the time-value of money affects financial decisions.
Recognize the importance of future value tables.
Recognize how to use different rules in financial decision making.
Chapter 3
Recognize the balance sheet (net worth statement) for personal net worth.
Identify the reasons for budgeting.
Chapter 4
Recognize career paths motivation.
Identify job benefit options.
Identify some of the work-at-home benefits.
Chapter 5
Calculate how much money savings required for a college education.
Identify ways to finance college education.
Identify sources of financial aid.
Recognize Federal government programs.
Chapter 6
Recognize risk and assess the risk-return trade-off.
Recognize different investment vehicles and outline their risk-return characteristics.
Identify the different types of risk and ways to reduce overall risk.
Chapter 7
Identify attributes of different short-terms investment vehicles.
Identify different banking tools available.
Recognize some of the banking regulations to help protect accounts.
Chapter 8
Recognize the different factors of credit ratings and FICO scores.
Recognize various debt management strategies and debt/equity ratios.
Identify aspects of bankruptcy law.
Chapter 9
Identify ways to save living costs.
Recognize leasing decisions and rules.
Chapter 10
Recognize factors in whether to buy or rent a home, and the different cost factors for housing and home financing.
Chapter 11
Identify the types of risk that need to be protected.
Identify a variety of life insurance policies and organizations.
Recognize medical and health insurance coverage attributes, and different policy attributes for property insurance.
Chapter 12
Identify investment strategies and sources of investment money.
Recognize the different risk factors for investments.
Chapter 13
Identify the types of common stock and stock valuation methods using some practical approaches.
Recognize ways to measure market-risk.
Chapter 14
Identify the terms and features of bonds, and the types of bonds and methods for selecting bonds.
Calculate yield (effective rate of return) on a bond.
Recognize differences between bonds and preferred stock and identify other fixed-income securities.
Identify the pros and cons of investing in real estate and the types of real estate investments.
Recognize factors to be considered regarding a real estate investment.
Recognize indirect real estate vehicles such as real estate investment trusts (REITs) and limited partnerships.
Chapter 15
Recognize the attributes and types of mutual funds and ETFs.
Chapter 16
Identify different types of retirement options.
Recognize the steps to be taken for retirement planning.
Recognize alternative options for meeting retirement financial requirements.
Identify the objectives of estate planning.
Recognize the purpose of different legal documents.
Major Topics
Financial Planning
Time Value Applications
Personal Financial Statements and Budgeting
Career Planning and Financial Statements
College Education Planning
Return and Risk of Investments
Banking and Cash Management
Managing Debt
Reduce Cost of Living
Life, Health, Property and Liability Insurance
Investment Planning
Investing in Common Stock
Fixed-Income Securities
Funds and Diversification
Retirement and Estate Planning
