michelleeportfolio

What I have learned in this class

This class has taught me several things that I will take with me into college and then out of college in the real world when I am on my own. I have learned many different terms that I did not know before but that I will have to know when I go out on my own such as the different types of loans and insurrance. I also learned how to financially plan for my future. I learned how to make a budget for things that I want. I learned the value of credit cards and how to use them so they will be useful for me rather than ruining my credit. We learned that paying off bills on time will help my credit and paying off the full amount on a loan rather than the smallest will help us not to have to pay too much interest. All these things are very important everyday life things that I will need to know in the future.

Of the many things we learned in this class, I think that most important tool I will use is how to budget my finances. This is the most important to be because it will be used in all parts of everything else she taught. I will need to learn how to make a finacial plan and goals so that I can achieve what I want without worrying about going deep into debt and possibly filing bankruptcy. This is also important because without knowing to plan financially for the future I wont know all the other terms she taught. This will be the most used tool when I go out on my own.

I think the thing we learned in class that I will probably use the least is the things we learned about the stock market. I don't see myself ever using the stock market because I didn't do well with it in class, it really confused me. If I ever did use it I would probably use mutal funds so that I wouldn't have to worry about putting my money in the right stocks. We learned about all kinds of different places to put your money to diversify it, which will be useful.

Budget

One of the many things we learned in class was about budgets. The first thing we learned was how to make goals for ourselves and budget our money. You only have so much money; you want to make sure you are spending in the right places. Learning how to budget your money is one of the most important financial skills you can have.

One of the first things we learned in class was how to make financial goals and a financial plan. Financial planning is important because it helps us make sure we know where our money is going because we tend to spend money without even thinking about it. In order to create a financial plan you first need to evaluate your financial health and ask yourself; where does your money come from? Where does it go? And where do you want it to go? The next step would be to define your financial goals and keep a record of them, this is something we did in class, we wrote down some short term goals and long term goals, identifying what we are saving for, how much we need to save and how we will save it, being specific. This helped us put our goals in perspective. After you have defined your goals you are to develop a plan of action, this means making your budget and your everyday spending match up. This is very important if you want to succeed in your written goals. Situations change and when situations change, your financial plan might need to change too, therefore we need to always be referring back to our financial plans not only so we don’t forget but also to make changes when needed.

We learned the ten main events that most people go through in their lifetime that would cause a financial strain. Reading about each of these events we got an idea as to what we need to be saving and planning for. The first event is when we first break away from our parents and start living on our own we realize how much the cost of food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities are. Next is marriage, when you get married many financial questions arise even after you’ve spend your money on the wedding and honeymoon now you have to account for another person in your budget. They might have student loans or credit card debt or past bankruptcies that you now also have to deal with. You also have to decide whether you want joint or separate checking account and credit cards. When you get married you need to reexamine your goals and begin planning for things that come with getting married such as buying a home and having children, which are the next two financial strains. Inheritances or unexpected money is also a main event, what do you do when you come into a lot of money to make sure it lasts you? This is when budgeting and financial planning comes in handy. A major illness could also be a life event that would cause a serious strain on you financially to pay for the hospital visits and medicine and possibly surgery. Caring for an elderly parent is another event you might need to plan for because now you will need to take care of not only your children but your parents also. Although it may seem far away, eventually most of us will retire and we need to save our money to make sure we can retire successfully. The last two unfortunate life events that could happen and create a financial strain are your spouse dying and/or you getting a divorce, this could mean having less income.

This class taught me a lot about budgets and how to make sure I accomplish my financial goals. We learned about many different events in our lives that could cause a financial strain and what to do when we come across these problems.

Michelle C. Roberts - Eportfolio