Personal Finance Course Research Articles

Effective and Efficient Use of Excel to Create Personal Financial Statements in the Classroom

This paper discusses using a particular Excel assignment in a Financial Planning or Personal Finance course. Excel worksheets allow students to more readily see interactions between concepts, and a finance major who is sufficiently skilled in Excel has an advantage entering the job market over those who are not. The paper discusses using an Excel assignment that requires students to complete a personal balance sheet and income and expense statement. It also discusses methods for evaluating the worksheets that the students turn in. Grading Excel assignments can be tedious. This paper also discusses using resources within Excel to reduce the time spent on evaluating student work and making it more efficient.

Personal Finance Education in Recessionary Times

The authors report the status of personal financial education in light of the recent economic crisis from the perspective of secondary school business teachers. Results showed that in the state of Kansas, 20% of the schools required a personal finance course prior to high school graduation, with 12% considering such a requirement. The recession has had a small but positive impact on personal finance enrollments and graduation requirements. Overall, 20% of the schools in this state were not complying with the state mandate to teach financial literacy. The demographic similarities between Kansas and the rest of the United States suggest a widespread need for additional financial literacy education.

The Cost Of Fast Cash For Students: Payday Loans Versus Credit Card Cash Advances

When asked if they, a friend or a family member has borrowed cash quickly, spur-of-the-moment, with little or no credit checking or collateral, many respond affirmatively. Twenty-one of eighty- two students (25.6%) from my Spring, 2007, Personal Finance course have first-hand knowledge of a credit card cash advance, while seven of eighty-two students (8.5%) have first-hand knowledge of a payday loan transaction. Two of eighty-two students (2.4%) claim to know of instances of both methods of obtaining cash quickly. While both methods of borrowing should be avoided, should an emergency loan be necessary, the cost of a credit card cash advance is significantly lower than the cost of a payday loan.

Financial Literacy: Examining The Knowledge Transfer Of Personal Finance From High School To College To Adulthood

Many states are now requiring high school students to be competent in the areas of economic and financial literacy. This is due to the recent escalation of bankruptcies, large credit card debt, and mortgage foreclosures in our society. This study examines how financial knowledge is transferred from the high school level to the college level and finally to the adult level. The authors reviewed the components of Blooms taxonomy at each level of learning. The Jump$tart Survey, which is given to high school students, was evaluated. College curricula regarding personal finance courses were examined to determine if personal finance was required for graduation, or an option for general education credit, and whether it was required in a major. The final financial knowledge transfer can happen at the adult level through community programs. Breakdowns in the transfer of financial learning were noted through the progression from high school to adulthood. (Keywords: personal finance, financial literacy, high school students, college students, adult learning)

How financial attitudes and practices influence the impulsive buying behavior of college and university students

Impulsive buying behavior has been the subject of a large amount of empirical research, but little research exists that actually examines the significant predictors of impulsive buying behaviors in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of adolescents towards credit and money and the personal financial planning practices they follow, and to examine how these attitudes and practices influenced their impulsive buying behavior. Data were collected from 906 adolescent Taiwanese college and university students. A logistic regression model was used to identify which students were more likely and which were less likely to make impulsive purchases. The significant predictors were the following 8 variables: gender, age, having taken a course in personal finance, use of money as a reward, family of origin, affective credit attitude, cognitive credit attitude, behavioral credit attitude, and money attitude.

Financial Education, Financial Knowledge and Risky Credit Behavior of College Students

The purpose of this study is to examine associations among financial education, financial knowledge, and risky credit behavior of college students. Using data from a sample of first-year college students, we found evidence that taking personal finance courses in high school and college is associated with financial knowledge as well as risky credit behavior. Specifically, both high school and college personal finance courses are associated positively with subjective financial knowledge. Subjective financial knowledge in turn reduces the chance of engaging in risky paying behavior. In addition, objective credit knowledge reduces the likelihood of engaging in both risky paying and borrowing behaviors.

An elective course in personal finance for health care professionals.

To create, implement, and assess an elective course on the principles and applications of personal finance. A 1.5 unit (15 hours total) elective course was designed using active-learning pedagogy, lecture, and group discussion. Homework assignments were designed to provide practical tools and materials that students could individualize and apply to their personal financial goals. Student satisfaction, using a standard course evaluation form, revealed consistent high ratings. Student enrollment increased from 19 students in its initial year to 90 students in its fourth year. Student knowledge, assessed using the Jump$tart Financial Literacy Survey, indicated significant knowledge acquisition. Many pharmacy students are ill equipped to effectively handle the complex financial decisions they face after graduation. This course provides students with practical tools to identify appropriate ways to achieve their financial goals and critically evaluate financial advice and advisors.

Enriching a Personal Finance Class with Free Online Video Clips

In spite of the fact that many of the video clips available at YouTube and other video providers are designed for entertainment, an increasing number are educational in nature. Extensive searching by the author revealed a multitude of videos relating to the topics covered in a personal finance course. The purpose of this paper is to provide a topical video guide to professors of personal finance interested in utilizing video clips as a teaching tool. Various approaches to the effective use of video clips in the classroom are also suggested.

Student Evaluations of Homework Assignments and Use of Technology in the Personal Finance Course

This abstract was created post-production by the JFI Editorial Board. The objective of this study is to analyze the students' response in personal finance courses regarding the helpfulness of homework completion and use of technology. Results show that there is no difference among male or female students about the use of technology and current GPA. However, it is apparent that students with high GPA use more technology than students with a lower value of GPA.

The Impact of Personal Finance Education Delivered in High School and College Courses

This study investigates the impact of personal finance education delivered in high school and college. Outcomes of interest were investment knowledge and household savings rates measured years after the financial education was delivered. A web-based survey with questions about participation in financial education, financial experiences, income and inheritances, and demographic characteristics was administered to 1,039 alumni from a large midwestern university. Participation in a college level personal finance course was associated with higher levels of investment knowledge. Experience with financial instruments appeared to explain more of the variance in both investment knowledge and savings rates. No significant relationship between taking a high school course and investment knowledge was found. Financial experiences were found to be positively associated with savings rates.

The Retrospective Life Insurance Method: A Pedagogic Spreadsheet Application

This paper describes an innovative Excel spreadsheet model, referred to as the Retrospective Method Spreadsheet, that has been successfully used in risk management and insurance, and personal finance courses to demonstrate the retrospective life insurance method. There are numerous pedagogic benefits of modeling life insurance funding in a spreadsheet application, especially when class time is limited. Our method provides an intuitive understanding of the sophisticated mathematical and statistical models common to actuarial science. The model is quite flexible and can be applied to life insurance policies (e.g., interest-sensitive whole life and universal life products) reflecting a variety of fee, expense, surrender charges, current interest rates or interest rate scenarios. Furthermore, current cost of insurance assumptions may be generated for any age, by gender, and for any proposed premium payment pattern. Given the interest rate sensitivity of the spreadsheet application, the paper also includes a discussion of how to utilize Monte Carlo simulation in investigating the impact of interest rate variability on insurance policy performance.

Teaching Personal Finance

ABSTRACT Using popular literature and the results of a survey of 476 undergraduates enrolled at two CCCU schools, I propose that the personal financial education of Christian college students is lacking. While students have a good understanding of the Scriptural basis of money, their knowledge is not realized in practice. Christian colleges and universities can address this deficiency by requiring all undergraduates to complete a course in personal finance. This requirement may have secondary benefits for the institution in the form of increased alumni participation and giving, lower student default rates, and increasing enrollments.

Discriminating the number of credit cards held by college students using credit and money attitudes

Based on previous studies, a credit attitudes scale [Xiao, J. J., Noring, F. E., & Anderson, J. G. (1995). College students’ attitudes towards credit cards. Journal of Consumer Studies, 19, 155–174] and a modified version of Furnham's [Furnham, A. (1984). Many sides of the coin: The psychology of money usage. Personality and Individual Differences, 5, 501–509] Money Beliefs and Behavior Scale [Hayhoe, C. R., Leach, L., Turner, P. R., Gross, P. E., Bass, B., & Xiao, J. J. (1997). College students’ use of credit cards: A descriptive study. In J. J. Xiao, Proceedings of Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (pp. 42–45), San Diego, CA, December 1997] were employed to examine college students’ use of credit cards. The money attitudes of obsession and retention and the affective credit attitude were shown to distinguish between students with credit cards and those without credit cards. The money attitude of effort/ability and the cognitive credit attitude distinguished between students with four or more credit cards and students with one to three credit cards. Ordered logistic regression was used to predict students with four or more credit cards. Nine variables were significant predictors: the affective credit attitude, age, the cognitive credit attitude, gender, having taken a course in personal finance, borrowing from friends or relatives, the retention money attitude, use of money as a reward, and preparing a list before shopping (listed in order of significance).

An integrated model for financial planning

Financial planning is a broad subject that requires an integrating overview. The Model for Financial Planning incorporates the time and the expected nature of financial events. The categories of the model include 1) money management issues that the individual faces as short-term expected events, 2) issues of meeting unexpected financial events through an emergency fund and insurance, 3) investing to reach the individual’s intermediate and long-term goals, 4) transference planning and other long-term issues whose time frame is unknown. The model has applications for “do it yourself” investors, financial planners, and students. The framework successfully integrates the broad range of topics typically covered in financial planning and personal finance courses.

The Internet in the personal finance course

A revolution is occurring as textbook authors struggle with how to effectively incorporate the Internet into the personal finance textbooks and course. This paper considers three questions associated with this revolution. What is the current degree of Internet integration? Where might we be headed with this new technology? Will this integration make for a better course? The current degree of Internet integration is reported in Tables 1 and 2. An argument is made that we may be headed to an eventual elimination of the textbook, as we know it. There is some preliminary evidence that this will make for a better educational experience.

A Status Report on the Personal Finance Course

and respondents were asked to indicate the degree of importance, if any, attached to each. The most important factor by far was no commitment and soon leave. Also considered important but less so was lacking teaching skills, and narrowly trained. A marginal factor was that salary requirements are too high, and the following factor was considered unimportant, salaries too high compared to present faculty. Four training programs were proposed-a Doctor of Arts with six economic specialties, a Ph.D. with five specialties and some research training, a social sciences Ph.D., and an M.A. in economics. It was found that the Ph.D. with five specialties was considered the most relevant by these community college administrators. The other three programs were considered less relevant and in order were favored as follows: the Doctor of Arts, an M.A., and a social sciences Ph.D. In conclusion, administrators at community colleges seemed most concerned with the lack of commitment of present Ph.D.'s, their narrow training and their lack of teacher training. Salaries, long considered a significant deterrent to community college hiring of Ph.D.'s, appeared to be unimportant. The new program which had the most appeal to these administrators was a broad Ph.D. with five economic specialties, teacher training, and modest research training.