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Chapter 3: Personal Financial Statements and Budgets
Chapter 3
Personal Financial Statements and Budgets
What Do You Know?
T F 1. People with low incomes have more difficulty managing money than people with high incomes.
T F 2. Personal financial statements, such as the income statement and balance sheet, are just a lot of busywork and have more value for the person with a lot of money.
T F 3. I usually see a doctor to diagnose my physical health but I have never seen a financial planner to diagnose my financial health.
T F 4. I balance my checkbook when I feel like it and that is usually less than 4-6 times per year.
T F 5. The best investments are a house and a savings account, and are all that you really need.
T F 6. A good financial plan will prevent me from enjoying life.
T F 7. Budgeting has been a nightmare for me.
T F 8. If I ever complete a financial plan, I'll be relieved that I'll never have to do that again.
T F 9. I think I overspend.
T F 10. If I encountered an unexpected emergency that cost me $400, I have a plan for how I would pay it.
Chapter Overview
Financial planning begins with an understanding of your values or what is important to you and good records that provide up-to-date accurate information. With this foundation you can begin the financial planning process that will lead to the development of a financial plan. Two fairly immediate goals will then be to establish an emergency fund and acquire adequate insurance. A budget will be developed to monitor and control expenses.
Chapter Outline
I. Personal Financial Statements
A. The Income Statement – shows how much is received and spent for a period of time.
1. Income
2. Taxes
3. Housing expenses
4. Transportation
5. Food
6. Child care and medical expenses
7. Clothing and personal care
8. Entertainment, gifts, and recreation
9. Student loan payments
10. Life insurance premiums
11. Charitable contributions
12. Cash allowances
13. Available for savings and investment
B. The Balance Sheet – shows what you own (assets) and owe (liabilities)
1. Cash and near cash financial assets
2. Nonretirement financial assets
3. Retirement and other financial assets
4. Real Assets
a. Replacement cost
b. Unusual property
5. Current liabilities
6. Long-term liabilities
7. Net worth
II. Interpreting Personal Financial Statements
A. Comparing this Year to Prior Years
B. Financial Ratios – are numerical benchmarks
1. Liquidity ratio
2. Debt-to-total-assets ratio
3. Debt service ratio
4. Financial assets to net worth
III. Preliminary Budgeting Concerns
A. Setting Up an Emergency Fund
1. The size of the fund depends upon one’s job benefits
B. Insuring Against Financial Disaster
1. Purpose is to protect property and income in the event of a crisis
IV. Budgeting (short-term financial plan)
A. Budget Components
1. Income (cash inflows)
2. Expenses (cash outflows)
3. Cash flow (difference between inflows and outflows)
B. Budget Format
1. Keep it simple
2. Eliminate “cents”
C. Completing the Budget Form
1. Cash inflows
2. Fixed expenses
3. Variable expenses
4. Monthly outcomes
D. The Trouble with Harry
E. Your Turn
F. Consumer Spending Patterns
1. Average household spends about $36,000 annually
2. 32% of annual household expenses go to housing
3. 19% for transportation
4. 14% for food
V. Record Keeping
A. Where Should Records Be Kept?
B. How Long Should Records Be Kept?
Name: ______Instructor: ______
Date: ______Section: ______
Key Terminology Fill-In-The-Blank Exercise
Use the terms from the Running Glossary in your text to complete the following statements.
1. Cars, houses, mutual funds, and 401k plans are examples of your ______, while the unpaid balances on student loans, mortgages, credit cards, and car loans are examples of your ______and both are shown on your ______.
2. The salary, interest, dividends, and other money you receive is your ______or is sometimes referred to as ______, while your rent, car payment, food and other money you pay out is your ______or sometimes referred to as ______and are shown on your ______.
3. If you want to know where you stand financially at any given point in time, the best thing to do is to prepare ______.
4. ______is the amount that the current value of what you own exceeds the current amount that you owe.
5. You wish to own your own home at age 30, send your children to American University and retire at age 50, so you develop a(n) ______to help reach these goals.
6. The process of deciding what actions you must take to reach your goals is called ______.
7. When you keep track of what you earn and spend, you are ______so that you can compare this information to your financial plan.
8. The relationship of your assets and liabilities as a measure of your ability to pay your debts is called ______.
9. A savings account that is equal to three to six months’ living expenses and will be used if you have a loss of income is a(n) ______.
10. Last month you budgeted $150 for entertainment but actually spent $250 for a(n) ______of $100.
11. If your paycheck plus other sources of money exceed your spending, you have a positive ______.
12. Should your TV blow up, the price of the new TV is the ______.
Name: ______Instructor: ______
Date: ______Section: ______
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Financial statements will do all of the following except:
a. provide up-to-date evaluation of your financial well-being.
b. guarantee that you will get loans.
c. provide a starting point for estate planning.
d. detect potential financial problems.
2. The percentage of Americans who regularly balance their checkbooks is:
a. almost 100%.
b. more than 75%.
c. less than 50%.
d. Almost nobody balances their checkbook regularly.
3. In determining your total income for budgeting purposes, which of the following should you include?
a. wages and salary
b. interest and dividends
c. bonus and profit sharing
d. all of the above
4. The budget category where most people have the most difficulty accounting for how and where they spend their money is:
a. housing.
b. vacation and entertainment.
c. cash allowances.
d. miscellaneous.
5. The statement where a person's assets and liabilities are shown is called the:
a. balance sheet.
b. income statement.
c. cash flow statement.
d. retained earnings statement.
6. Items, which can quickly be converted into cash, are called:
a. long-term financial assets.
b. fixed assets.
c. net worth.
d. current financial assets.
7. Almost half of all households’ ratio of net worth to annual income is:
a. about 1 to 1.
b. about 2 to 1.
c. about 1 to 2.
d. less than 1 to 2.
8. Numerical benchmarks that give you an indication of your current financial position are financial ______.
a. statements
b. ratios
c. plans
d. goals
9. Most experts suggest that you should have enough liquid assets to provide living expenses for:
a. 1 to 3 months.
b. 3 to 6 months.
c. 6 to 9 months.
d. 9 to 12 months.
10. Lenders may not extend additional credit if the percentage of loan payments to take home pay exceeds ______.
a. 40%
b. 30%
c. 20%
d. 10%
11. All of the following are financial strategies except:
a. increasing the amount you are putting into your 401(k).
b. shifting your portfolio to higher yielding mutual funds.
c. planning to retire at 50.
d. buying vacant land and selling it later to a developer for a profit.
12. In order to make your financial goals more attainable, you should:
a. put a time frame on each.
b. estimate the cost of achieving the goal.
c. develop a strategy to reach the goal.
d. all of the above
13. Which of the following would typically not be a financial goal of a younger person?
a. buying a house
b. paying off educational loans
c. estate planning
d. saving for child's education
14. A budget should do all of the following except:
a. permit you to track expenditures.
b. avoid impulse purchases.
c. stop you from buying something you need.
d. help you reach longer-term obligations.
15. All of the following are examples of variable expenses except:
a. food.
b. gas and electric bill.
c. entertainment and vacation.
d. car payments.
16. Budgets should be formatted to show:
a. budgeted and actual income.
b. budgeted and actual expenses.
c. variances.
d. all of the above
17. The largest single expenditure category for U.S. households is:
a. personal and Social Security taxes.
b. housing.
c. transportation.
d. food.
18. People tend to overspend because:
a. they carry too much cash.
b. they want to "keep up with the Joneses."
c. they use credit cards.
d. all of the above
19. Old tax returns should be kept:
a. forever.
b. for three years.
c. for seven years.
d. for one year.
Name: ______Instructor: ______
Date: ______Section: ______
Experiential Problems
1. Compile a list of things that may need to be funded out of the emergency fund for your household. Ask the members of your household to come up with their own list. Each of you put a dollar amount next to each item. Now compare your lists of items as well as the total dollar amounts. Did both lists look similar or different? Were you both surprised? Is your emergency fund able to fund all of these possible replacements/repairs? What is your action plan to remedying the situation?
2. Look at the Personal Finance Toolbox for this chapter. Assess yourself against each of the reasons people have trouble making ends meet.
3. Prepare a budget for your cash expenditures for a one-week period. Identify the categories and estimate how much you spend in a week in each of them. Then track your expenses, keeping a log of every item you purchase on a notepad small enough to carry with you at all times. Do not attempt to record all expenditures at the end of the day, as you will forget some of them. Record the date, the amount, and what it is (coffee, DVD rental, gasoline). Now compare your actual and budgeted expenditures. Answer the following questions:
a. Did you overspend in any category? List those in which you did. (If you did not overspend in any category, CONGRATULATIONS – take the rest of the night off.)
b. Referring to the Personal Finance Toolbox in your text, identify a reason you overspent. (Your reason may not be on the list.
c. Based upon the reasons you identified in part b, develop a strategy for each reason that will help you reduce or eliminate the overspending in the future.
Chapter 3 Solutions
What Do You Know?
1. F 6. F
2. F 7. F
3. F 8. F
4. F 9. F (most people do not think they do)
5. F 10. T
Key Terminology Fill-In-The-Blank Exercise
1. assets, liabilities, balance sheet
2. income, cash inflows, expenses, cash outflows, income statement
3. financial statements
4. Net worth
5. financial plan
6. financial planning
7. budgeting
8. solvency
9. emergency fund
10. variance
11. cash flow
12. replacement cost
Multiple Choice Questions
1. b 11. c
2. c 12. d
3. d 13. c
4. c 14. c
5. a 15. d
6. d 16. d
7. d 17. b
8. b 18. d
9. b 19. a
10. a