During week 9, our class covered Chapter 11 on Managing Health Expenses and Chapter 12 on Life Insurance Planning.  Chapter 11 is the end of the material for exam 2.  On thing that our class discussed that was not in the health expenses chapter was Obamacare.  In 2014 many changes will take effect in regards to healthcare in the United States.  Probably some of the material in Chapter 11 will change with these new federally mandated changes.  Chapter 11 covered different types of health insurance like HMOs and PPOs.  We also discussed Medicare and Medicaid.  We discussed who benefits from these and what they are used for.  Chapter 12 is the first new chapter of material for the final exam.  Chapter 12 is about life insurance.  The life insurance chapter stated the different types of life insurance such as term and whole life insurance.  It covered universal life insurance and some of the clauses that are part of life insurance policies.  Obtaining life insurance is one of my top priorities after I graduate from LSU.

The article that I read for week 9 is titled "5 Common Money Leaks and What You Can Do To Eliminate Them" from http://financialplan.about.com.  The article listed five ways that money can be lost without an individual realizing it.  The five areas to be aware of include: wireless data plans, car insurance plans, home heating and cooling, using land lines, and shopping lists.  Some of the ways that the article suggested we save money made since like using a programmable thermostat.  I disagree with the land line service.  I still feel better and safer with a land line in my home.  It was an interesting article.

Week 8 of Finance 3060 included Chapter 10 about Managing Property and Liability Risk and Jim Boyd as a guest speaker.  We covered the steps in the risk management process and how to handle risk.  The chapter consisted of home owner's insurance and car insurance.  We discussed the different types of home owner's plans and what your home owner's policy means.  I took another look at my home owner's policy and am now able to understand the specific parts of the policy much better.  We also covered car insurance.  I was not clear on the difference between the bodily injury part of the PAP and the property damage part.  I do understand these aspects of my car insurance policy now.  One of the most interesting parts of the chapter was the umbrella policy.  This is an insurance policy that covers loss past what your regular policy covers.  I was not familiar with this type of policy before this class.  I will definitely considered getting an umbrella policy when my children are old enough to drive.  (Thankfully we are not ready for that.)  On Thursday of week 8 Jim Boyd from the LSU Department of Finance spoke to our class.  Dr. Boyd teaches a risk and insurance class at LSU.  He spoke to our class about auto insurance.  He covered a lot of interesting information about car insurance.  He also gave us links to useful websites to gather more information about car insurance in Louisiana.  I plan to use some of the links Dr. Boyd provided to shop for car insurance and determine if the policy I have works best for me.

The article that I chose for week 8 is called "Tax Credits for Families" from www.investopedia.com.  This article included topics such as the child tax credit, child and dependent care credit, exemptions, and American Opportunity Credit.  Most of these credits and exemptions are familiar to me.  The one that I was most interested in was the child and dependent care credit.  As I stated in a previous post, this year is the first year my children go to daycare.  The article stated that you are allowed to file for a credit of up to 35% of the annual child care cost or up to $3,000 for one child.  I will consider this credit next spring when filing my 2013 tax return.

During week 7 of class we covered Chapter 8, Vehicle and Major Purchases, and Chapter 9, Buying a Home.  Both of these chapters were very interesting and pertain to my life at the moment.  We also had a guest speaker on Thursday of this week.  The guest speaker was Emily Hester from the Student Financial Management Center (SFMC) at LSU.  Ms. Hester spoke about how the SFMC helps educate LSU students about being financially responsible.  Before the speaker's presentation, I was not aware that LSU had such a center.  I think it is a great idea since so many young adults need help with financial matters.  As I mentioned in an earlier post my husband and I are currently considering buying a vehicle.  Also we own a home, but in the next few years we are hoping to purchase a larger house.  We have outgrown the current one.  One of the vehicle buying suggestions was to negotiate every aspect of the purchase separately, such as the new car price, the trade-in of the old vehicle, and the loan interest rate.  I have not done this is the past, but I plan to do this in the future.  It makes good since.  The chapter on buying a home discussed different types of housing options, such as houses, cooperatives, condos, PUDs, and apartments.  A person will choose the option that he or she can afford, as well as the one that fits his lifestyle.  We went over different types of mortgages including some that may not be good for our finances.  We discussed the type of mortgages that helped cause the 2008 housing bubble to pop.  The two chapters were very practical.

The article that I choose for week 7 was "Your Gender Can Directly Affect Your Credit Card Debt" from www.fpanet.org.  The article suggested that women with low levels of financial literacy have more credit card debt than men with low levels of financial literacy.  The article made several suggests for people to lower their debt.  It stated to shop for credit cards, avoid department store plans, understand your credit limit, and pay on time with more than the minimum amounts.  It also stated, "If you can't afford it, don't buy it".  I feel this is an excellent point and totally agree.

Week 6 included the end of Chapter 6 about Building and Maintaining Good Credit and also Chapter 7 about Credit Cards and Consumer Loans.  Our first exam was on the Thursday of that week.  We finished Chapter 6 discussing bankruptcy and good money habits to build good credit.  We covered the two types of bankruptcy, which are Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  One of the good money habits that was stressed during class was never cosign a loan for someone.  Then we covered Chapter 7, Credit Cards and Consumer Loans.  We discussed secured and unsecured loans.  We talked about interest rates and credit cards.  One of the beneficial loans that was stressed during class was the HELOC.  This is the home equity line of credit.  It sounds like this is very beneficial to have.  Currently my husband and I do not have this type of loan, but we will considered it for the future.  Thursday was our first test in Finance 3060.

The article that I chose for week 6 is "Mastering Your Holiday Season Budget" from www.fpanet.org.  Since we are not in October, the holidays are coming to mind.  Personally I always spend more money at Christmas time than I had planned.  Some of the article ideas are make a total budget of what you plan to spend, try making gifts if possible, and start saving early.  I think these are all great ideas, and I hope to do better about holiday spending this year.