Finance Fundamentals: Financial Planning and Budgeting

We introduce a simple four-stage model for making financial decisions before moving on to examine the two components of household budgeting – income and expenditure. In doing this we learn about the impact of inflation and taxation on incomes and the support to households provided by the state benefit system.

In examining expenditure we look at the pressures placed on us to spend our money, how to shop with confidence on the internet and on how ‘heuristics’ can interfere with good spending decision-making.

The course finishes by looking at a key area of household spending: insurance. We examine when to insure and when to bear the risks yourself without buying an insurance policy. We use the financial planning model, introduced at the start of the course, to make good decisions when buying insurance.

This facilitated 4-week course is up-to-date and uses an array of audio-visual assets to help you through the subject matter.