Monthly Archives: March 2012

Class Discussion: Birth Order and Your Financial Personality

Posted on March 28, 2012 by ajkeown

Bankrate.com recently looked at the impact of birth order on personal finance in the article “How birth order can affect your finances.”  It takes an interesting look at how being the oldest, youngest, or somewhere in between can impact your … Continue reading →

Posted in 10 Principles of Personal Finance, Ch. 1, Financial Planning Process | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Assignment and Discussion: Warren Buffet’s Thoughts on Gold

Posted on March 22, 2012 by ajkeown

If you stay up very late and end up watching TV in the wee hours of the morning, you’ve probably heard one of those “turn your paper IRA into a gold IRA” commercials, touting the superiority of gold over other … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.14, Investing in Bonds | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Video and Class Discussion: The Fed and the Economy – from Ben Bernanke

Posted on March 20, 2012 by ajkeown

Teaching Tip:  These are one-hour lectures and could be shown in class with class discussion following them. When it comes to lectures, this one might not sound that exciting – “Reflections on the Federal Reserve and Its Place in Today’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.11, Investment Basics, Ch.12, Securities Markets, Personal Finance In The News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Assignment and Discussion: Retirement Confidence – A Thing of the Past

Posted on March 17, 2012 by ajkeown

According to a 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, worker’s confidence that they will have enough money to “live comfortably throughout their retirement years” continues to decline – in fact, only 13% of those polled were … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.16, Retirement Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Discussion and Assignment: Warren Buffett’s Insights and Words of Wisdom

Posted on March 12, 2012 by ajkeown

Much of personal finance deals with understanding basic investment principles.  That’s why Part 4 of Personal Finance, Turning Money into Wealth is titled “Managing Your Investments” – and in Chapter 11 we take a look at investment basics, then in … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.13, Investing In Stocks, Ch.14, Investing in Bonds | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Assignment and Discussion: Retirement Confidence – A Thing of the Past

Posted on March 9, 2012 by ajkeown

According to a 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, worker’s confidence that they will have enough money to “live comfortably throughout their retirement years” continues to decline – in fact, only 13% of those polled were … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.16, Retirement Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Discussion and Assignment: A Backwards Look at Retirement

Posted on March 7, 2012 by ajkeown

Generally when we look at retirement we focus on whether an individual has enough saved to make it through retirement.  Another way of looking at retirement is to see what Americans have at the end of retirement – do they … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.16, Retirement Planning | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Class Assignment and Discussion: The Living Too Long Problem – Longevity Insurance

Posted on March 5, 2012 by ajkeown

Teaching Tip:  SmartMoney.com has a great video titled “Living to 100? That will be $3.5 million.”  (Note, the video appears part way down the page, just click on it and it will show up.) “Live long and prosper” – it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch. 9, Life and Health Insurance, Ch.16, Retirement Planning, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Video and Discussion: How Severe Are Problems with Social Security?

Posted on March 1, 2012 by ajkeown

Teaching Tip:  PBS NewsHour put out a great 11 minute 20 second video on Social Security, focusing on future problems facing Social Security.  This can either be shown in class or assigned.  In either case, it should foster a good … Continue reading →

Posted in Ch.16, Retirement Planning | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment