Financial Planning Basics

Financial Planning Basics

• Financial Planning: Helping You See the Big Picture
• What Is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional?
• Prioritizing Long-Term Savings

Emergency Fund

• Getting Started: Establishing a Financial Safety Net
• How much money should I keep in a savings account for emergencies?

Budgeting

• Establishing a Budget
• Struggling to Stick to a Budget? Try a Values-Based Budget Instead

Debt Management

• Choosing a Credit Card
• Credit Traps for the Unwary
• Debt Consolidation
• Understanding Your Credit Report
• How can I pay off my credit card debt?

Investing Basics

• The Basics of Investment Planning
• Dollar Cost Averaging
• Investing for Major Financial Goals
• Handling Market Volatility
• Asset Allocation

Saving Contribution Limits

• When am I eligible to make a "catch up" contribution for retirement?

Saving in IRAs

• Choosing a Beneficiary for Your IRA or 401(k)
• Six Potential 401(k) Rollover Pitfalls
• Leaving Your Job? Your Retirement Savings Plan Options

Health Insurance

• Health Insurance and COBRA: Sometimes You Can Take It with You
• Comparing Health Insurance Plans
• Getting Health Insurance When You're Hard to Insure
• Health Insurance in Retirement
• Dental Insurance

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Life Insurance

• Shopping for Life Insurance
• Types of Life Insurance Policies
• Cash Value Life Insurance
• Designating a Beneficiary for Life Insurance

Other Types of Insurance

• Term life insurance and death probability
• Question: Is there such a thing as nursing home insurance?
• Question: Should I buy long-term care insurance?
• What is long-term care insurance?

Student Loans

• Repaying Your Student Loans
• How Student Loans Impact Your Credit
• Student Loan Interest Deduction

Investor Behavior

• I Am Sitting On Cash, Should I Wait For the Next Market Crash To Invest?

Divorce

• Health Insurance and Divorce
• Insurance Concerns of Divorcing Couples
• Dealing with Divorce

Interest & Debt

• Compound interest introduction
• The rule of 72 for compound interest
• Annual percentage rate (APR) and effective APR
• Time value of money
• Personal bankruptcy: Chapters 7 and 13

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Disability Insurance

• Do You Need Disability Income Insurance?
• Disability Income Insurance: Typical Policy Features
• Long-Term vs. Short-Term Disability Income Insurance
• How Much Disability Income Insurance Should You Have?
• Group Disability Insurance

Inflation

• Five Ways To Combat Inflation; An Underrated Risk
• Inflation overview
• What is inflation?
• Inflation data
• CPI index

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Housing

• Introduction to balance sheets
• More on balance sheets and equity
• Home equity loans
• Renting versus buying a home
• Is buying a home always better?

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Investment Vehicles

• Annuities: Traps for the Unwary
• Mutual Fund Basics
• Open-ended mutual fund (part 1)
• Understanding Mutual Fund Share Classes
• Open-end mutual fund redemptions (part 2)

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Stocks & Bonds

• What it means to buy a company's stock
• Bonds vs. stocks
• Shorting stock
• Shorting stock 2
• Is short selling bad?

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Options, Swaps, Futures, MBSs, CDOs, and Other Derivatives

• American call options
• Basic shorting
• American put options
• Call option as leverage
• Put vs. short and leverage

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Money, Banking and Central Banks

• Banking 1
• Banking 2: A bank's income statement
• Banking 3: Fractional reserve banking
• Banking 4: Multiplier effect and the money supply
• Banking 5: Introduction to bank notes

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