BUSI 45: FUNDAMENTALS OF PERSONAL FINANCE
Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading | Value |
---|---|
Effective Term: | Summer 2025 |
Units: | 4 |
Hours: | 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter) |
Advisory: | Elementary Algebra or equivalent; demonstrated proficiency in English by placement via multiple measures OR through an equivalent placement process OR completion of ESLL 125 & ESLL 249. |
Degree & Credit Status: | Degree-Applicable Credit Course |
Foothill GE: | Non-GE |
Transferable: | CSU/UC |
Grade Type: | Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass) |
Repeatability: | Not Repeatable |
Student Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate techniques, calculations, and procedures necessary for building a personal financial model, including a budget.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the basic definitions, terminology, concepts, and frameworks for planning, implementation, evaluation of personal financial decisions.
Description
Course Objectives
The student will be able to:
- Develop personal and family financial goals and plans
- Discuss the effects of financial decisions on a person's emotions, behavior, health, and relationships
- Prepare a household budget
- Apply the "time value of money" to personal finance problems, including major life events/purchases
- Assess financial decision outcomes by using financial metrics
- Calculate personal net worth (balance sheet) and liquidity (income/cash flow statement)
- Explain payroll and tax concepts, forms, and processes
- Assess insurance needs
- Explain access to and maintenance of credit and other debt
- Examine retirement plans and options
- Examine investment options, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
- Explore how to leverage financial technology (FinTech) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance financial decision-making
- Prepare a personal financial plan
Course Content
- Foundations of financial planning
- Defining success
- Financial versus life success
- Quantitative and qualitative measures
- Money and happiness, family, and community
- Importance of planning
- Individual attitudes towards money
- Personal and social financial values
- Effects of wealth and debt
- Psychological
- Emotional
- Social
- Physical
- Planning across the lifespan
- Career choice and development
- Life stages and financial concerns
- Role of financial advisors
- Defining success
- Money management skills
- A system for personal financial records
- Net worth/personal balance sheet
- Assets
- Liabilities
- Calculating and evaluating net worth
- Evaluating net worth
- Income/cash flows statement
- Income sources
- Discretionary and non-discretionary expenses
- Measuring, recording, and evaluating financial activity
- Personal budget
- Savings/investments/purchases
- Payroll and taxes
- Primer on payroll system, forms, processes
- Primer on federal and state income taxes
- Expenses
- Categorizing expenses
- Estimating dollar amounts
- Evaluation
- Budgeted versus actual amounts
- Variance analysis
- Financial performance
- Goal re-evaluation
- Budget adjustments
- Cash and credit management
- Consuming versus investing
- Checking accounts
- Savings accounts
- Revolving debt (credit cards)
- Credit
- Types of credit
- Establishing and maintaining a credit history
- Credit ratings
- Credit bureau reports
- Getting out of debt
- Major life events/purchases
- Auto
- Home
- Education
- Career planning
- Retirement
- Basics of insurance
- Purpose
- Types
- Investment basics
- Risk and return
- Diversification; portfolio mix and stage of life
- Time value of money
- Bonds
- Stocks
- Mutual funds
- Other types (e.g., real estate)
- Retirement and estate planning
- Psychological, physical, and sociological effects of aging and retirement
- Retirement planning
- Estimating income in retirement
- Estimating financial needs in retirement
- Retirement savings/investment vehicles
- Estate planning
- Wills
- Trusts
- Estate taxes
- Social security and medicare
- Pensions
- Retirement savings accounts (e.g., 401k, IRA, 403b)
- Personal financial plan
- Excel primer
- Web calculators
- Other software
- Reference information (e.g., current interest and tax rates)
- Financial technology (FinTech) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools
- Budgeting and financial planning tools (e.g., YNAB, Mint, PocketGuard)
- Investment management platforms (e.g., Betterment, M1 Finance, Empower Personal Dashboard)
- Credit and debt management tools (e.g., Trim, Sofi)
- AI-powered financial tools (e.g., Kasisto (KAI), Abe.ai)
- Fraud detection and security (e.g., FICO Falcon Platform)
Lab Content
Not applicable.
Special Facilities and/or Equipment
Method(s) of Evaluation
Formative assessments: quizzes, problem-solving exercises
Summative assessments: examinations
Assessment of critical thinking: reflections, journal, discussions, research
Integrative assessment: comprehensive project (individual or team)
Method(s) of Instruction
Lectures
Discussions/chats
Collaborative learning activities
Presentations
Demonstrations
Cases
Investment simulations
Representative Text(s) and Other Materials
Siegel, R., and C. Yacht. Personal Finance. 2024.
Smith, J., T.K. Tan, and W. Zehr. Principles of Finance. 2021.
Kapoor, J.R., L.R. Dlabay, R.J. Hughes, and M. Hart. Personal Finance, 14th ed.. 2024.
Madura, J.. Personal Finance, 7th ed.. 2024.
Keown, A.J.. Personal Finance: Turning Money into Wealth, 10th ed.. 2024.
Garman, E.T., and R.E. Forgue. Personal Finance, 15th ed.. 2023.
Billingsley, R.S., L.J. Gitman, and M.D. Joehnk. Personal Financial Planning, 16th ed.. 2023.
Siegel and Yacht text available as OER: https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/31
Smith, et al., text available as OER: https://assets.openstax.org/oscms-prodcms/media/documents/PrinciplesofFinance-WEB.pdf
Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments
- Reading assignments:
- Assigned textbook
- Articles from professional or trade journals, such as Money, Forbes, Kipplinger's, or Business Week
- Articles from financial newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, or Investor's Business Daily
- Websites related to consumer financial issues, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Writing assignments:
- Reflection journals:
- Personal philosophy regarding personal financial matters, including financial objectives and attitudes towards money, credit cards, debt, investments, taxes, insurance, etc.
- Personal budgeting and net worth
- Critical self-reflection on personal financial planning (end of course)
- Reflection journals: