BUS-205: PERSONAL FINANCE
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Professor: Cyrus Ramezani
Web Page: http://cyrus.cob.calpoly.edu
Phone: (805) 756-1168
Email: cramezan@calpoly.edu
Office: Room 406 – Orfalea College of Business
Office Hrs: By weekly announcements or by appointment
1. Catalog Description:
An introduction to personal financial planning, including budgeting and savings, tax
planning, insurance planning, equity and fixed income investments, and estate and
retirement planning.
2. Required Background or Experience:
Prerequisite: None
General Education: This course uses the writing skills developed in English courses,
oral skills developed in speech courses, mathematical methods and critical thinking
acquired in quantitative courses.
3. Expected Outcomes:
1. Understand the financial planning process from college to retirement.
2. Use computer resources to research, analyze and solve personal finance problems.
3. Apply quantitative skills to solve personal finance problems.
4. Identify ethical considerations that effect financial decision-making.
5. Communicate personal finance information effectively.
4. Text and References:
Focus on Personal Finance, 3rd Edition | by Kapoor, Jack; Dlabay, Les; Hughes,
Robert J.
5. Special or Unique Student Material:
Financial calculator and spreadsheet will be needed.
6. Special or Unique University Facilities:
Access to an Internet connected computer is required to complete the course.
7. Expanded Course Description:
This will be a guided self-study course. Students will rely on online course materials to
learn the basics of personal finance and to solve related problems. The life cycle
approach to financial planning will be used. This approach begins with planning for
careers after graduation and ends with managing one’s finances during the retirement
years.
This course covers the basics of budgeting, savings, taxes and tax planning, consumer
credit, investments (stocks, bonds, and mutual funds), and insurance, retirement, and
estate planning. This course will cover materials far beyond “learning to balance one’s
checkbook”.
Instructional Method: The course will be entirely delivered online and outside the
office hours, there will be no regularly scheduled “in-class” lectures or on campus
meetings with the instructor. While the course is self-paced, it requires continuous
progress with reading materials, taking quizzes, completing assignments, and online
participation in discussion boards.
Work Load: The course requires a time commitment of about 8 hours per week.
Students must read roughly 45 pages of materials per week. Assuming the average
student needs 5 minutes per page, the readings will require a commitment of 4 hours
per week. Weekly quizzes, related projects and discussion board participation will
require an additional 4 hours.
8. Course Assignments:
Weekly Quizzes: Starting on the Friday of the 1st week of classes, students will have
access to the first of seven (7) consecutive required weekly quizzes that must be
taken at the end of each week via Blackboard. Quizzes will consist of 25 multiplechoice questions and problems (three levels: easy, moderate, and difficult). Each quiz
will cover roughly 45 pages of readings. Quizzes will be available in Blackboard every
Friday during the designated quiz period (12-noon to 10:59 PM).
Each student will receive a random set of questions on their quiz and no two quizzes
will be the same. Once a student starts a quiz, they will have 60 minutes to complete
it. It will not be possible to save quizzes and return to them at a later time. Students
can attempt each quiz only once. Students may use all available resources (books,
internet, etc.), except direct assistance from others. Students must correctly answer
18 out of 25 questions (at least 72%) on a quiz to receive credit for that quiz.
Students will be able to discard one quiz (the lowest). This provides the students the
opportunity to deal with unexpected events that may have prevented them from
taking a quiz on time.
Key to success on quizzes: The timing, content, and grading of quizzes is designed
to reward steady progress in the course. This course requires continuous attention to
course materials. Students WILL NOT be able to put off readings and “cram the
material” right before exams (hence the weekly quizzes). It’s imperative that students
stay current with the required readings and upon finishing each chapter - attempt end
of chapter exercises and problems, as well as practice tests on the textbook’s web
site. Students should not simply guess their way through the quizzes (hence a
minimum 72% correct answer is required). The weekly “quiz period” permits ample
time to complete the readings, attempt the end of chapter problems, and take
practice quizzes in one “chunk of time,” before attempting the graded weekly quiz via
Blackboard.
Cheating on Quizzes and Exams: Note that each student will receive unique
quizzes and exams. Once a test is started (the clock will be ticking), students will not
have enough time to collaborate with others, search the web or the textbook for
answers, or compare tests. Moreover, for a quiz grade to count, students must score
better than 72% (18 out of 25 questions). These requirements make it costly to take
the tests without studying the course materials, or attempt to cheat, or ask others for
help. In short, it will be much easier and less risky to study the materials and rely on
your own knowledge and skills. Moreover, it is easier to catch cheaters on Blackboard
(easier to prove too) and the penalty will be the grade “F” for everyone involved. The
first lesson in finance is this: It is not smart to pursue opportunities where the
expected costs exceed the expected benefits. IT WILL TAKE MORE EFFORT TO CHEAT
THAN TO DO THE REQUIRED WORK FOR THIS CLASS. It is not smart to cheat on
materials that will be useful to you for the rest of your life!
Example Problems and Exams: In addition to weekly quizzes, students must
complete two online exams: A midterm and a final exam (see below for dates).
These exams will test your ability to apply concepts learned in this course to real
world problems. To prepare for the midterm and final, a series of Handouts will be
provided. Prior to the midterm and the final exams, two Example Problems will be
posted. Each student is expected to study these problems and attempt to solve them
using the provided Handouts and a financial calculator or Excel spreadsheet. The
Example Problems will enable students to solve real world financial planning problems
and to communicate their proposed solutions in a clear and effective manner.
The purpose of these examples is to help students overcome the fear associated with
financial calculations. Students often refer to such activities as “doing math” and
express fears like “I am not good with calculations”. Personal finance calculations are
not the same as doing math and effective management of one’s lifetime finances
cannot be done without calculations. The sooner one learns to perform financial
calculations the better!
Key to success on Example Problems: The example problems expose students to
the use of calculators and spreadsheet programs to solve personal finance problems.
Example of interesting problems include calculating payments and interest charges on
loans, comparing lease versus buy options, comparing flexible versus fixed
mortgages, and the like. The example problems will prepare you for problems on the
midterm and final, which will be very similar. A Brief answer key will be provided for
both example problems prior to exams. The questions on the midterm and final tests
will be very similar to the example problems. Students who attempt the example
problems will do well on their midterm and final exam.
Class Participation: A significant portion of the grade in this course (10%) is tied to
student participation in our online class community. We have collected all the
materials that students’ need to master personal finance in one location on the course
Blackboard site (no need to waste time searching the internet, though that could be
fun). The purpose of the class participation grade is to ensure that students study all
the course materials that have been collected on Blackboard. A secondary purpose is
to introduce students to methods of online communication and collaboration, which is
the norm in modern private and public enterprises. Students are expected to read all
materials posted to Blackboard. Students are also expected to participate in the
discussion of the Example Problems.
Key to success on Class Participation: I will be able to see which documents on
Blackboard each student visits and how long each visit lasts. I will provide a list of
links to documents that must be studied to receive credit for class participation.
Students are also expected to contribute to our online community. In particular,
students’ postings on the example problems Discussion Boards will be reviewed to
determine their contributions and participation. Participation credit will be awarded
based upon demonstration of the ability to submit postings that meet “Acceptable
Standard” in the listed criteria posted in Blackboard. Please follow those guidelines to
ensure you receive credit for your contributions to the discussion boards.
Tentative timeline of readings, Example Problems, and Quizzes:
Quarter at a Glance:
Weekly Quizzes will be available via Blackboard on Fridays from 8:30am to
11am.
Week
1
Assignment(s)
Read>>
Text Book
References
View>>
Video
Resources
Complete>>
Quiz
Due
(pgs. 180-227)
Midterm Exam
(TBA)
5
Week
Read>>
Text Book
References
View>>
Video
Resources
Complete>>
Quiz
Due
Final Exam
(TBA)
9
9. Grading and Administrative Policies:
Grading: The Course grade will be determined as follow: The maximum possible
overall score will be 100 points. The quizzes will be worth 10 points each. While taking
seven quizzes will be mandatory, the quiz with the lowest score will be dropped (the
maximum score for the quizzes will be 60 points). The midterm and final exams will
be worth 30 points (15 each). Online class participation and other contributions to the
course discussion boards will be worth 10 points.
The following table provides an example of how a student’s grade is calculated.
Activity:
Assigned
Points
Student’s
grade
Stude
nt
Score
Quiz 1
10
.76 (19 out of
25 correct)
7.6
(10x.7
6)
Quiz 2
10
.56 (below
0.0
72%)
Quiz 3
10
.80
8.0
Quiz 4
10
.88
8.8
Quiz 5
10
.96
9.6
Quiz 6
10
.76
7.6
Quiz 7
10
.44 (below
72%)
0.0
Midterm (10/30)
15
.80
12
Final Exam
(12/4)
15
.65
9.75
Class
Participation
10
.90
9.0
Grade C+

Total Score
72.35
The mapping of student’s score to letter grades will be as follows:
Score Range
Letter Grade
95-100
A
90-95
A-
85-90
B+
80-85
B
75-80
B-
70-75
C+
65-70
C
50-65
C-, D+, D, and D-
Below 50
F
****Grades appearing in Blackboard are not representative of your final grade and
maybe subject to change.****
Administrative Policies: There will be no “incomplete” grades. The score assigned to
missed quizzes or missed midterm or final will be zero. No Exceptions!
The primary method of communication will be Blackboard and scheduled office hours.
I will post all information and announcements on Blackboard. I may also alert you to
important information via email. Aside from office hours here will be no lectures or in
class meetings.
Student Responsibilities: Students are responsible for all announcements (test
information, schedule changes, etc.) that are posted to Blackboard or distributed via
email, and videos. Please be sure your email address on record with Cal Poly is
current and that you check (forward) your Cal Poly email.
Code of Conduct: Improper academic conduct shall be interpreted to mean obtaining
and using information during quizzes by means other than those permitted by the
instructor, including supplying such information to other students. All forms of
academic dishonesty, including cheating, plagiarism, and falsification of academic
records are subject to disciplinary action. Should such behavior come to the attention
of the instructor, the student will be dropped from the course and receive a grade of
"F."
Student Privacy (FERPA): Students who have chosen to protect their Directory
Information (which includes name and email), must communicate this fact to the
instructor prior on the first day of class. This course uses Blackboard tools that will
display students' full names and email addresses.
Students with Special Needs: Students who have a disability and wish to request
special accommodations are encouraged to contact the instructor and the Disability
Resource Center (DRC), Building 124, Room 119, (805) 756-1395 or email
drc@calpoly.edu as early as possible in the quarter.