FINANCIAL PLANNING

FNPL-101 Personal Financial Planning Principles
3 Credits (Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues Core)
This course focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to manage and/or improve your personal financial literacy; that is, how you manage your own finances. Major topics will include concepts such as investing, debt control, tax planning, credit management, insurance, management of critical problems such as bankruptcy and foreclosures, as well as retirement and estate planning. Students will be given several opportunities to apply their knowledge in both individual and small group assignments and activities, and will explore the use of electronic resources that support financial planning activities. (3 hours weekly)

FNPL-105 Financial Planning for Young Adults
3 Credits
This course is designed, in general, for those less than 30 years of age who are interested in learning how to plan for a financially secure future by practical applications in the following areas: money management, spending and savings plans, credit/debt management, and investing for the future. (3 hours weekly)

FNPL-106 Credit Management
3 Credits
This course provides financial literacy skills and resources in consumer areas such as credit and money management, avoidance of financial traps, restoration of impaired credit, financial institutions’ credit worthiness decision-making, home ownership and preservation, and the selection of appropriate sources of credit. It will involve both theory and application. Prerequisite: FNPL-101 or 105. (3 hours weekly)

FNPL-108 Financial Planning for Retirement
3 Credits
This course is designed to deliver an understanding of the fundamental elements used to design a retirement plan strategy. Students will learn to review an individual financial situation, develop financial goals for retirement and appropriate means to achieve those goals, and to identify and manage the various risks to that plan during the accumulation and payout phases. ‘Decoding’ of Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and lifestyle choice options will also be included. The emotional, relationship-changing impact of the retirement decision will also be explored. Prerequisite: FNPL-101. (3 hours weekly)

FNPL-110 Estate Planning and Elder Law
3 Credits
This course will explore the complexities of financial planning for later years of life. Course activities will focus on specifics in the field of elder law and estate planning, and will include such items as basic legal concepts of elder law, relocation decisions, long term care insurance issues, future changes to Maryland tax laws, the challenges of joint ownership, and wills. Prerequisite: FNPL-101. (3 hours weekly)

FNPL-201 Investment Analysis and Portfolio Selection
3 Credits
Upon the completion of this course a student will understand the variety of investment vehicles which are offered today. He/she will better self-advise or advise others in financial investments in the following areas: long-term securities; stocks and bonds; limited income securities; treasury bills; mutual funds. An overview of analytical techniques, construction of investment portfolio and tax considerations will be presented as well. (3 hours weekly)

FNPL-202 Risk Management and Insurance
3 Credits
An introduction to the field of insurance. The student will examine the various types of risks and the approaches taken by insurance firms. The course provides an analysis of life, health, property and liability insurance, fire insurance, homeowners and personal auto policies, as well as employee benefit plans and determination of insurance needs. (3 hours weekly)

FNPL-206 Banking and Financial Planning
3 Credits
As an introduction to banking essentials, this course will present many aspects of the field, from legal issues and ethical concerns such as privacy, consumer lending, and the role of the Federal Reserve as agent and bank regulator to contemporary concerns such as loan maintenance and foreclosure negotiations. Non-deposit bank services such as investments & trusts will also be explored. Prerequisites: BMGT-100 and FNPL-101. (3 hours weekly)

FNPL-210 Financial Planning Seminar
1 Credit
This course is designed to be a project-oriented, capstone course for the financial planning curriculum. It will combine all major program concepts into an individualized application, such as: preparation of a comprehensive financial plan; a workplace internship; deeper exploration of one aspect of personal financial planning; or other similar items. A written and oral report will serve as the project outcome. Prerequisites: BMGT-205 and FNPL-206. (1 hour weekly)