Personal Financial Management

FIN7519 Personal Financial Management
3 Elective CreditsThis course teaches students to negotiate the retail financial landscape, emphasizing issues that have a large impact on their future financial well-being. It assumes no finance knowledge other than first-year finance. The course covers topics such as selecting a financial adviser, financing the purchase of a house, college saving, retirement saving, behavioral finance, trusts, and investment frauds and scams. Specific investment products studied include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, municipal bonds, emerging markets, alternative investments (including hedge funds, private equity funds, and commodities), annuities, and insurance products. Consideration will be given to the problem of an entrepreneur or start-up employee who has a substantial fraction of personal wealth invested in a single business venture, including evaluating stock- and option-based compensation plans. Over the duration of the course, students may work to develop a personal financial plan for themselves, or if they prefer, for a fictional person with a defined set of financial traits.

Prerequisites: None but it is recommended that students take FIN7200 or FIN7800 first