Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Personal Finance Course Online July 21 - Aug 19th - 3 credits

Online Personal Finance course (2nd Summer 5 week session) open for enrollment!  The course is FIN 320 and will start on July 21 and run through   August 19th – 3 credits in 5 weeks! The course is an introduction to the financial planning process of setting goals, developing action plans, creating budgets and measuring results. You will become familiar with the techniques of financial analyses necessary to make choices when considering housing, insurance, retirement plans, and borrowing and other personal finance issues.  The course is designed and taught by me (a CPA who has practiced personal financial planning for over 30 years). I took a course like this at Providence College many years ago and it lead me to enter the financial services field and to eventually achieve the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation and to eventually become a CPA. The course is for three credits and covers a business elective.  There is no prerequisite and nonbusiness majors are also welcome to enroll as well as non-UMASS Dartmouth students.  If you are looking to do an internship in the financial services industry, looking at career paths in insurance, investments, tax planning or comprehensive financial planning then this is a good course for you.  If you are looking to become more financial literate, then this is the course for you. Students have told me for over 30 years that this is one course that has an immediate impact on how they manage their finances and how they will plan going forward.

 In the best-selling book, The Millionaire Next Door, the author Thomas J. Stanley states this simple truth:  Whatever your income, always live below your means.”  Such simple advice is not always easy for the financially illiterate to follow.  This course will help you set goals and to budget to reach your goals and live within your means.  Stanley says: “The foundation stone of wealth accumulation is defense, and this defense should be anchored by budgeting and planning.”

Managing your credit, investing wisely, having adequate insurance, understanding banks, and basic income tax planning are all part of this course.  The course will be delivered via myCourses and the McGraw-Hill Connect system and culminates with you pretending to devise a financial plan for a family that needs your help.  I would be happy to send you a sample syllabus.

If you would like more information about this great and very useful course, email me at mgriffin@umassd.edu.  If you want to enroll, please get in touch with our enrollment center at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth or follow this link for more information on how to register: https://webapps.umassd.edu/ue/welcome.php?rn=2440|CE4|3722&term=2440|CE4

The course usually fills up quickly but as of today, it is still open.

Professor Griffin