This is our final week of class for Fall 2013.  During this week's class we presented on our research topics.  My classmate and I presented on estate planning.  She covered wills, power of attorney, living wills, and estate taxes.  I covered trusts, heirs, and charitable giving.  The research was very interesting.  I did not that estate planning covered so many different areas.  One thing that I will take away from the project is that I need a will.  I have enjoyed the class and learned a lot of useful financial information.

My article for week 15 is "Stop Keeping Up With The Joneses - They're Broke" from www.investopedia.com.  I found the title of the article funny so I became interested in reading it.  The article states many people in western countries feel a competition toward excessive consumption.  We do this for many reasons.  One reason is that we want what others have, but we don't realize that sometimes others acquire these material things with tremendous debt.  The article suggests that we trim our needs and set our priorities.  I think it is good to remind ourselves of these things from time to time.

Week 14 was Thanksgiving week, and we had a guest speaker for our only day of class.  Paul Thompson, a portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley, was our guest speaker.  He spoke about understanding risk and the market.  He also spoke about developing a properly allocated portfolio.  Mr. Thompson started his presentation with some Greek history.  I love history and found his discussion very interesting.  He spoke about risk through the ages, how it was recognized, measured, and insured against.  He covered famous people and topics from the ancient Greeks to more modern times like Von Newman's invention of game theory.  It was an educational and interesting presentation.

My article for week 14 is called "Estate Planning: Introduction to Trusts" from www.investopedia.com.  During this week I was doing research for our group project on estate planning.  One of the topics that I had to research was trusts.  I found this interesting and informative article on trusts.  The article explains the two types of trusts: living and testamentary.  It also goes over the differences between revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts.  Irrevocable trusts are used in estate planning.  My research on trusts became more in depth over time, but I felt this article was a good starting point.

During week 13 our class covered Chapter 16 Real Estate Investment, Chapter 17 Retirement Planning, and Chapter 18 Estate Planning.  Chapter 16 covers real estate investment not for residential use.  Location is the number one factor in whether a property is valuable.  From an investment standpoint your house is not an asset.  The most important disadvantages of real estate investing are legal fees and illiquidity.  Chapter 17 consisted of retirement planning, and most financial planners deal with retirement planning.  It is a very applicable topic.  The chapter discussed the aspect of social security benefits.  Social security is not enough to live on after retirement.  Retirement plans in Chapter 17 include defined benefits plans and defined contribution plans.  The popular 401K is an example of a defined contribution plan.  This chapter also covered the traditional IRA and the Roth IRA.  It covered the differences and the tax implications of the different IRAs.  The final chapter in our textbook is Chapter 18, Estate Planning.  This chapter covered many aspects of estate planning such as probate, wills, executors, trusts, estate taxes, and gift taxes.  Everyone should have a will no matter their financial situation.  The chapter also covered power of attorney and living wills.  All students in our class were assigned group project topics.  My group was assigned estate planning so I learned a great deal about estate planning over the course of this semester.

My week 13 article is "Should You Separate or Joint Accounts?" from www.kiplinger.com.  I chose this article because I find this topic interesting.  My husband and I have all joint accounts, but I have other family members who do not share some bank accounts with their spouses.  The main idea of the article is that each couple will need to decide what works best for them.  Some couple share all accounts, some share none, and some couples share certain accounts.  Couples should always keep the money management lines of communication open.

During week 12 our class covered Chapter 14 on Investing in Stocks and Bonds and Chapter 15 on Investing through Mutual Funds.  Before I took Finance 3060, I thought that financial planning was all about Chapter 14 material.  I now know that financial planning encompasses much more than stocks and bonds.  It was stated in class that the public has become more dependent on packaged investments in recent history.  Over time the stock market usually has a return of twice the bond market.  The stock market is geared to go up because businesses are in business to make money and improve.  The book stated that corporate earnings are the most important way to evaluate stock values.  Bonds are more difficult to price and trade than stocks because there is no actual marketplace to trade them like the stock exchanges.  The book mentioned different types of yields such as current yield and yield to maturity.  Chapter 15 covered mutual funds.  These are monies pooled by investment companies to buy stocks, bonds, and other investments.  Some benefits of mutual funds are diversification and reduced risk.  They also help level the playing field between corporations and individual investors.

"Assessing the Needs of an Aging Parent" is the title of the article that I read for week 12.  The article comes from www.massmutual.com.  I chose this article because I do have aging parents, one of which is critically ill with cancer.  The article states a list of questions to ask your parents.  These questions can help you approach sensitive topics that need to be discussed.  The article also suggested that long term care insurance can provide a measure of support for many families with aging parents.  I have discussed most of the topics the article suggested with my parents.  There are a few that I had not thought of as a problem.  I will be sure to bring up these topics in the future.

Week 11 only included one day of class because the Thursday was part of fall break.  During the Tuesday class we finished Chapter 13 on Investment Fundamentals that we had started on our own last Thursday.  It was stated that time is the most valuable component of investing.  Basically we have two investment choices, lending investments and ownership investments.  Lending investments include bonds.  Ownership investments include stocks.  This chapter covered the nine sources of risk in the risk-return trade-off.  A few of these risks are interest rate risk, inflation risk, and market risk.  We discussed the differences between a bull market and a bear market.   It was said that you should not invest if you cannot hold the investment for at least 3-5 years.  Again time is the important component of investing.

The article that I chose for week 11 is "Giving To Charity-4 Smart Strategies" from www.schwab.com.  The article lists four financial charitable giving ideas.  They consist of a charitable remainder trust, a pooled income fund, a private foundation, and a donor advised fund.  The charitable remainder trust is a trust that you control and put money into.  You receive income from the trust for a certain number of years, and then the remainder goes to the charity.  The pooled income fund is a way for charities to pool the funds of different individuals and invest them.  A private foundation is a tax-exempt charitable organization set up by a person or persons.  This is more costly and complicated than the other strategies.  The final idea is a donor advised fund.  This fund is a pool of money from donors managed by the charity.  These are all great ideas for giving to charity.

On Tuesday of week 10 we took exam 2 on Chapters 4-11.  On Thursday, class was cancelled, but we were responsible for Chapter 13 on Investment Fundamentals.  Chapter 13 contained information about investing versus speculating and setting investment goals.  It also review time value of money which we covered earlier this semester as well as in other business courses.  One of the topics towards the beginning of Chapter 13 was the different rates of return.  Nominal rate is the rate of return without adjusting for inflation.  The real rate is the inflation adjusted rate of return.  We will continue with Chapter 13 next week.

My article this week is titled "529 Plans: The Ins and Outs of Contributions and Withdrawals" from www.ameriprise.com.  I have children in elementary school and have thought about saving for college but have not been able to afford the expense.  When I graduate, this is one of the financial goals that I have set for myself.  This is why this particular article seemed very relevant to me.  The article stated that most states have contribution limits of $300,000 and up.  It stated that minimum contributions vary by plan.  Also qualified withdrawals are tax free.  After I have a job, 529 plans for my children will be a priority.

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.