Overview
Finance 322: Personal Finance is a three-credit course that examines the knowledge and competencies required to manage personal financial resources. You will learn to understand, mathematically analyze, and evaluate financial products and strategies. This course emphasizes active decision making. As you learn the basic concepts, you will implement them to improve your own personal financial situation and to enhance your professional competencies and credibility if you work in the financial services industry.
The topics covered in Finance 322 include the time value of money, debt management, tax planning, risk management and insurance, investment management, retirement planning, and estate planning. Issues related to financial services advising are also discussed.
Outline
Lesson 1: Introduction to Financial Planning
Lesson 2: Financial Statements—Construction and Analysis
Lesson 3: Time Value of Money
Lesson 4: The Canadian Personal Income Tax System
Lesson 5: Tax Planning Strategies
Lesson 6: Cash Management
Lesson 7: Consumer Credit—Open Credit and Credit Cards
Lesson 8: Personal Debt (Consumer Loans)
Lesson 9: Personal Debt (Automobile Financing)
Lesson 10: Personal Debt (Mortgages)
Lesson 11: Risk Management and Health and Disability Insurance
Lesson 12: Risk Management and Life Insurance
Lesson 13: Property and Liability Insurance
Lesson 14: Investment Basics
Lesson 15: Securities Markets
Lesson 16: Equity
Lesson 17: Fixed Income
Lesson 18: Mutual Funds
Lesson 19: Retirement Planning and Management
Lesson 20: Estate Planning
Lesson 21: Comprehensive Financial Planning
Evaluation
To receive credit in FNCE 322, you must achieve a composite course grade of at least a “D” (50 percent) and a passing grade of “D” (50 percent) on the Final Examination. The weighting of the composite course grade is as follows:
| Assign 1 | Assign 2 | Assign 3
(Case Analysis) | Midterm Exam | Final Exam | Total |
| 10% | 10% | 20% | 20% | 40% | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Course Materials
Textbook
Keown, A., Gardner, E., Torabzadeh, K., & Dixon, G. (2003). Personal finance: Turning money into wealth (1st Can. ed.). Toronto: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-062014-9
Other materials
Students will access all other course materials online.
Challenge for Credit Course Overview
The Challenge for Credit process allows students to demonstrate that they have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university level course.
Full information for the Challenge for Credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Challenge Evaluation
To receive credit for the FNCE 322 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least “D” (50 percent) on the examination.
Paper Exam (4 hours)
Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.
