This course covers the basic analytic tools and mathematical techniques used in personal financial planning. The emphasis is on understanding and applying quantitative concepts and techniques such as present/future value analysis, discounted cash flow, internal rate of return, measurements of investment performance, analysis of equities and fixed-income investments using statistical tools, evaluation of mortgages, and cash-flow planning for retirement and education. The course is specifically oriented toward practical problem solving.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to

• Apply TVM principles to solve problems in various financial planning and investment applications, including retirement and education funding, consumer purchases, bond pricing and the analysis of investment alternatives.
• Create personal balance sheets and income and expense statements and perform relevant analysis, including the calculation of personal financial ratios.
• Understand and calculate the impact of inflation on savings and investment plans and goals.
• Define and calculate the various measures of "average return", and identify where used.
• Calculate volatility in investment returns and interpret results.
• Achieve a basic understanding of equities (stocks), options, mutual funds and bonds in order to complete computations relevant to pricing and other analyses.
• Define and measure risk for different types of investments (bonds, equities) and calculate industry defined risk adjusted return metrics.
• Master the HP12C calculator for various computations.

Note(s) A HP-12C financial calculator is required.