COURSE SYLLABUS
PD120-Personal Financial Management
FACULTY CONTACT INFO & OFFICE HOURS:
Instructor’s name: Monica J Phillis
Phone Number: 252-532-1188
DAY / OFFICE HOURS (EST)Monday / 8:00 – 10:00am EST
Tuesday
Wednesday / 6:00 – 8:00pm EST
Thursday
Friday / 8:00 – 12:00pm EST
Saturday
Sunday
Eliminate Office Hour: Wednesday’s @ 1pm EST
COMMUNICATION WITH THE INSTRUCTOR:
The best method of communication is via email. Please use the internal messages system at the MESSAGES link found along the left menu for personal written communication throughout this course. Messages will be answered within 24 hours.
GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION:
Date: November 28, 2011 – December 21, 2011
Course Number: PD 120
Course Name: Personal Financial Management
Semester Credit Hours: 1 semester hour
Prerequisite(s): None
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course deals with concepts of personal financial planning and financial control. Topics center on critical self examination of student planning techniques through analysis and research of personal financial legal documents, checking accounts and banking services, income tax procedures, savings methods, investment planning, risk management and insurance, and credit records, credit law, and the cost of credit.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate proper techniques for maintaining personal financial records.
2. Create a comprehensive personal budget.
3. Calculate the total cost of a loan.
4. Define individual responsibilities associated with honoring loan contracts and other financial agreements.
5. Create a long term financial plan.
REQUIRED TEXT(S):
Ryan, Joan S. (2010). Managing your Personal Finance, 6th ed. Mason, Ohio: Southwestern-Cengage Learning.
ISBN: 0538449373 ISBN-13: 9780538449373
SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:
There are many course resources available for you to use to help you with assignments, tests, and learning. Resources are linked to your session page each week and are compatible with the week’s learning exercises. You may also wish to access the Herzing Online Library or contact technical support as needed.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND ONLINE ETIQUETTE:
Academic honesty is fundamental value at Herzing College Online. Academic Integrity is a demonstration of response for the scholarship and the intellectual/creative efforts of others. Herzing will not accept academic dishonesty, which includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, cheating in any form, theft of educational material, and the falsification of data. Plagiarism is the use of another source, person or group’s work without giving the author(s) credit. Plagiarism is lying, dishonest, and illegal and will not be tolerated in an institution whose mission is to educate students and help them obtain the skills that enable them to make decisions of conscience. Herzing policy stipulates that an instance of plagiarism, academic dishonesty or cheating will result in a failing grade for the assignment and at the discretion of the instructor a failing grade for the course. In addition, a written warning will be retained on record in the student’s academic file. A second warning may result in the student being expelled from the college.
In all instances when borrowing ideas from other sources, students must provide reference of the source. References should be presented in APA format according to the American Psychological Association (APA).
Since we cannot see each other, we must be careful how we address one another. Let’s please be polite to everyone’s personality, culture, and learning curve. Not everyone learns everything at the same pace. Therefore, let’s please be courteous to one another when responding to each other’s communication efforts by not criticizing other’s work, praising a good effort as well as being polite and sensitive to cultural backgrounds and engaging in politically correct language.
We should also stick to the learning topics outlined by the instructor when participating in classroom discussion threads. Discussions outside the context of the weekly learning activities should be directed to the chat café rather than the weekly discussion board to be respectful of everyone’s time constraints.
CLASSROOM POLICIES:
Study Time: Online students should expect to spend about six (6) hours per week (over a 7½-week period) in their studies for each credit hour enrolled. This would include reading, researching, and writing papers, doing projects, completing exercises, studying, and reflecting on the course material as well as the time spent on the computer participating in discussion threads, reviewing online course materials, taking tests, and uploading/downloading materials. The time devoted to classes scheduled for other than 7½-week periods would adjust proportionately.
Written Assignments: All assignments should be submitted by Sunday, midnight on the week they are assigned. A template is provided for you to complete the assignment. This template is located in the weekly assessments section.
Quizzes: All unit quizzes must be completed by Sunday evening, midnight of the week they are assigned. The quizzes consist of multiple choice questions and essay questions. The unit quizzes cover the materials discussed during the unit. The final exam is an assessment of all material reviewed in the course.
Discussion Boards: The following discussion requirements for the course need to be followed by all students.
Weekly Discussions are required: All online courses should have weekly discussion questions and all weekly discussions should be graded. All graded discussions will include feedback in the grade center, under instructors’ comments, to let students know what they did well, why they received the point total that they did, and what they can improve upon the next time.
Number of posts:
Students are required to post three posts spread over three different days. The initial post should be the answer to the main discussion question and the other secondary posts should be students’ interactions with their peers’ posts.
Quality of posts:
The initial and secondary posts should be meaningful and should promote further discussion. Please refer to the discussion threads grading rubric for more about the quality of posts.
Due Dates:
Post your initial post by Wednesday of the week and the other secondary posts by Sunday midnight of the week No discussion will take place when the week is over.
Number of words:
All discussion questions should be meaningfully answered. Please refer to the grading rubric. The number of words of the initial post should be no less than 200 words and the number of words in each of the secondary posts should be no less than 100 words.
Discussion Grades:
The weekly discussion question is worth 50 points. 25 points are allocated to the initial post and 25 points are allocated to secondary posts. Please refer to the Discussion Threads Grading Rubric for further information about discussion threads grading.
Class Participation:
At Herzing University Online Campus, we are committed to helping you succeed and encourage you to actively participate in your classes to get the most from your educational experience and investment. Here are suggested best student practices for your online classroom participation and attendance:
1. It is strongly recommended that you login and participatethree to four times per week on different days to post to the discussion boards, check announcements, review the syllabus, and complete written assignments, quizzes, and exams. These guidelines are based on academic success rates at Herzing University andother universities that use the online format.
2. You must click into the content area of your classroom to have your attendance counted. That means, you should click into the learning activities folder, discussion board forum, etc to have your attendance tracked.
3. For most classes, 25% or more of your grade is based on your participation in online discussions. Many instructors evaluate your posts to the discussion board based on frequency, timeliness, and quality of content. While many of you have busy full-time work schedules, it is recommended that you log in both during the week and on the weekend to fulfill the requirements and deadlines for discussion questions.
4. Instructors post class announcements about important deadlines, assignments, and other pertinent information for your class. It is highly recommended that you regularly check the internal messages section, announcements, and within the classroom for any updated information. If you have any doubts about deadlines for assignments, email or call your instructor so you don't miss the deadlines.
5. Attendance is tracked by Student Services and the Registrar's Office and your student status can fall in jeopardy if you do not actively login to your classes. You will be contacted by our Student Services Office if you do not log in for 4 or more days.
6. You will be automatically dropped from enrollment if you do not login for 14 consecutive days. Being dismissed from school for a lack of attendance can result in negative academic and financial consequences that will adversely affect your ability to re-enter Herzing University Online Campus.
Late Assignments:
Assignments submitted after Sunday will receive a 10 percent reduction in points. Assignments received one week late (7 days late) will receive a 50 percent reduction in points. Assignments received more than 1 week after the due date will not be graded.
SUMMARY OF WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS/ASSESSMENTS:
Week 111/28/11 – 12/04/11 / Course Contract – Please review the contract located in the syllabus link, electronically sign and submit the contract in the week 1 assessment.
Read Chapters 6 and 7 in textbook.
Review materials in supporting lesson links.
Discussion Assignment #1 50 points
Respond to each of the questions below in your initial post no later than Wednesday. Your initial response provided contains a minimum of 200 words. Two additional posts (100-word minimum) are required on separate days and may respond to other students' responses or additional questions posted. (Ex: Initial Post - Wednesday; Second post - Friday; Third post - Sunday) Posts submitted after Sunday evening will not be graded.
1. What employment records are important to keep? Why?
2. Taxpayers are responsible to file a tax return every year. Filling in the forms by hand, tax preparation software and tax preparers are a few of the methods of completing your income tax return. Compare and contrast two available tools. Which method will you/did you use this year? Why?
Written Assignment #1 – 75 points Your homework assignment consists of two problems listed below. Please use the template to complete your assignment.
Problem 1 - Prepare an employee withholding sheet similar to Figure 6.2 of the textbook, using the following information:
Mike Anderson, whose social security number is 999-00-9962, is paid weekly. He is single and has one withholding allowance. He works in Oregon *use Figure 6.3 and 6.4 to determine his income tax withholdings). He worked 40 hours at his regular rate of $7.70 an hour and 6 overtime hours last week. In addition to the required deductions, he had $22 for insurance, $12 for union dues, and $10 for charitable contributions withheld from his paycheck.
Problem 2 - Janette is a student with a baby-sitting service. She’s unsure whether she needs to file a federal tax return on her income. She also wants to know how long she needs to keep tax-related records. Visit the sites listed below and answer the following questions
Website: Internal Revenue Servicehttp://www.irs.gov/individuals/students/article/0,,id=96674,00.html Website: Bankrate.comhttp://www.bankrate.com/brm/itax/tips/20010207a.aspWebsite: Internal Revenue Servicehttp://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=105111,00.html
1. What types of income typically received by students may be taxable?
2. What are Janette’s options for submitting a tax return? (Remember, she is self-employed.)
3. Provide guidelines for taxpayers eligible to complete the 1040EZ, 1040A, and 1040 form.
4. Besides your actual tax returns, what tax records should you keep?
APA Guidelines and Academic Dishonesty Quiz – (not included in gradebook)
The APA quiz consists of 15 multiple choice/true false questions. This is due by Sunday evening, midnight of Week 1.
Quiz #1 – 50 points
The Week 1 Quiz consists of 6 multiple choice questions worth 5 points each and 2 short essays worth 10 points each.
Week 2
12/05/11 – 12/11/11 / Read Chapters 20, 8, and 9 in textbook.
Review materials in supporting lessons links.
Discussion Assignment #2 – 50 points
Respond to each of the questions below in your initial post no later than Wednesday. Your initial response provided contains a minimum of 200 words. Two additional posts (100-word minimum) are required on separate days and may respond to other students' responses or additional questions posted. (Ex: Initial Post - Wednesday; Second post - Friday; Third post - Sunday) Posts submitted after Sunday evening will not be graded.
1. Budgeting should begin early in your life. Discuss how your budget is based on personal values and choices and modified when new "life events" occur. Why do some individuals ignore planning and budgeting?
2. Checking accounts have many good features, such as overdraft protection. List banking services that appeal to you and explain why these services are important.
3. Discuss a contract that you have entered into and your obligations of the contract. Was it an expressed or implied contract? Explain
Mini-Project Budget – 150 points
The Mini-Budget consists of four sections. Please use either the word document or template attached to complete your Mini-Project Budget.
Section 1
Complete the Current Budget/Cash Flow Statement by collecting all source documents for gathering your monthly income and expenses. Examples of information include check registers, bank statements, pay stubs, pay statements, child-support documents and other pertinent documents. Input the source document and income in the worksheet. Gather source documents for expenses including rental agreements, loan statements, monthly billing statements, bank statements, check registers, cash receipts and miscellaneous documents. Input the source document and expense in the worksheet.
Section 2
Compile previous loan statements your have taken out to date. Find the source document and total the loan balances. Document the interest rate. Determine your schooling expense on an annual basis. Include tuition, school fees, books, computers and additional items needed for your education. Enter this information in the worksheet.Section 3
Provide your anticipated monthly income by researching the pay rate for your "future employment". Document this information in the source document section and input data in the worksheet. Enter additional sources of income in the worksheet. Provide anticipated monthly cash outflows. The first expense to incorporate is your student loan obligation. Access the loan calculator in Week 2 Additional Resources. Enter the estimate loan balance, interest rate and payment schedule to determine your monthly loan payment. Enter additional cash outflows.