Unit 5 Personal Finance

1. Unit 5 Personal Finance

2. Saving and Investing Generally, a person has only 2 choices about what to do with after tax income.

3. Spend it now or save for the future.

4. The opportunity cost of holding money for spending purposes is the interest you could have earned by putting the money in some kind of financial investment.

5. 2 Types of Investment Financial Investment: refers to decisions by individuals and businesses to invest money in financial assetssuch as bank accounts, certificates of deposit, stocks, bonds and mutual funds that earn interest.

6. Real Investment: When businesses purchase factories, machinery, tools and equipment. This is the kind of investment we have talked about all semester.

7. Types of Financial Investments • Savings Account: these are accounts in banks that earn a small rate of interest but on which checks cannot be written. These are among the safest of all investments.

8. 2. Certificate of Deposit: this is where you loan money to a bank for a period of time and are paid back with interest. The time period can vary from 1 month to 5 years or more and will pay a little better than a savings account.

9. However, if you withdraw your money before the maturity date, you pay a penalty.

10. 3. Bonds: are loans issued by the government or by companies. You loan them your money for a period of time and are paid back with interest.

11. Bonds can be short term, paid over a few months or years versus long term, which are repaid over decades. Bonds are less risky than stocks.

12. 4. Stocks: represent shares of ownership in a corporation. Owners receive a return in 2 ways. The firm may pay dividends to its shareholders out of the profits that it earns.

13. Also, investors may profit by selling their shares for more than they paid for them; this is called a capital gain.

14. Stocks are riskier than bonds. Stock prices can be measured by looking at an index like the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S & P 500.

16. 5. Mutual Funds: a company sells stock in itself to individual investors and then invests the money it receives in stocks and bonds issued by other companies.

17. Investing in mutual funds automatically diversifies the investors portfolio and these funds are run by professional money managers.

18. 6. 401K Plan: this is a taxdeferred investment and savings plan that acts as a personal pension fund for employees for retirement.

19. The employee contributes a certain amount each month into the plan which is then matched by some percentage by the employer. The fund grows tax deferred until retirement at which time it is taxed. This allows for a bigger nest egg.

20. 7. Individual Retirement Account (IRA): This IRA is another long term, tax deferred plan that a person can set up as part of a retirement plan.

21. Diversification: The spreading out of funds into different kinds of investments in order to minimize risk. The idea is not to put all your eggs in one basket.

22. Based on the illustration, you would earn more in any of the three retirement plans than you would on basic savings because you would

23. Types of Financial Institutions • Banks: provide a safe means to store earnings. Banks offer direct deposit, check writing services, debit and credit cards, loans of all sorts, as well as other services.

24. Banks take the money deposited and loan out a portion of it to people who want to borrow. By charging interest on the loans banks are able to make a profit.

25. The interest on the loans is always more than the interest paid out to depositors for their money. Otherwise, banks could not earn a profit. This is called the interest rate spread.

26. Credit Union: provide services similar to a bank; the main difference is that a credit union only provides these services to its members, and these members own and control the institution.

27. .Since the credit union exists for the benefit of its members, it can offer better rates on loans or savings accounts

28. Savings & Loan: instead of providing a wealth of services, a savings and loan takes deposits and concentrates on two areas: namely savings and mortgage loans.

29. Depositors won’t have as easy access to their money as in a bank, but they will earn a higher savings rate.

30. Payday Loan Company: these companies give out small loans in return for a portion of a person’s upcoming paycheck. Interest rates can be extremely high.

31. Risk and Return Risk: describes a situation in which the outcome is uncertain and a range of results, potentially good and bad, is possible.

32. Return: of an investment is calculated as the income or profit generated by that investment divided by the original cost of the investment. Ex. If you put $100 in a bank account and receive $3 a the end of the year, then the rate of return is 3%.

33. Generally, the greater the risk with an investment, the higher the rate of potential return.

34. Simple vs. Compound Interest The interest rate is the price paid or received for the use of another person’s money. This interest rate can be calculated in 2 basic ways.

35. The simple interest rate is where interest is calculated only on the original loan amount, also called the principal. Ex. Deposit Amt = $100, Interest rate = 5% (5% × $100 = $5) After 1 year the person would have $105. After the 2nd year, the person would earn $105 + $5 = $110

36. The compound interest rate is where interest is earned not only on the principal but also on interest earned from previous periods. Ex. Same example as above In the 2nd year, the person would earn 5% × $105 = $5.25, so the total earned would be $105 + $5.25 = $110.25

37. The compound interest is greater than the simple interest. The current difference is only 25¢, but compound interest can build up significantly over a long period of time. Rule of 70 .

38. The key to compounding is to start saving early and be consistent. Interest can be compounded monthly quarterly, semi-annually, or annually

39. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, "The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest." How much is a penny compounded daily for a month?

40. Monthly deposits of $10 compounded monthly.

41. Credit Credit: refers to the ability to borrow money. Some forms of credit commonly used by consumers are car loans, home mortgage loans and credit cards. Businesses also use credit regularly, either by borrowing from a bank or issuing corporate bonds.

42. The government also uses credit when it needs to borrow money to finance its budget deficit.

43. People who can borrow at a reasonable interest rate are said to have good credit, while those who can’t borrow at such rates are said to have bad credit. Loans extended for longer periods involve higher interest rates to compensate for greater risk.

44. When comparing loans, one should look at the annual percentage rate (APR) on the loan.

45. For short term credit people often use credit cards as a simple and convenient way of paying for purchases. The advantage is that if a credit card is used and the balance is paid off each month, the borrower doesn’t pay any interest.

46. However, if the full balance is not paid each month, the borrower begins to accrue interest charges on the unpaid balance and the interest is accrued monthly.

47. Interest rates as high as 18% are not uncommon, and the rate can be fixed or variable depending on the card.

48. Interest rates are higher on credit cards than on bank loans because they are an unsecuredloan. The borrower doesn’t have to put up any collateral in case of default.

49. With a bank loan collateral would be required. Collateral: An asset of value put up against the loan in case of default.

50. When financial institutions decide to loan you money they look at your credit worthiness which is an attempt to determine how well you’ll be able to repay a loan.