ACCTG 151G Financial Literacy

Schedule
Schedule C: Business and Society

Semester
Semester One

Campus
City Campus

Note — Restriction: May not be taken by students with a concurrent or prior enrolment in Accounting or Finance courses.

People who understand the basic principles of finance are likely to get much more mileage out of their money — whether spending, borrowing, saving or investing — than those who don’t.

Learn how to be in control of spending and saving, understand borrowing, make wise investment decisions, know broadly what to insure and what not to, recognise scams, while weighing up whether money is the key to happiness.

There are two ways to be financially comfortable: make lots of money, or make a reasonable amount of money and handle it wisely.

This course concentrates mainly on the second way, considering simple strategies that work and common financial mistakes to avoid. The good news is that in many circumstances the easy way is the best way.

The objective of this course is to give students enough knowledge to run their personal financial lives efficiently, without spending lots of time on it. It also invites students to consider the importance of the pursuit of wealth. KiwiSaver will be discussed extensively as an example of a savings plan and in discussions on investment strategies.

By the end of this course, it is expected that you will be able to:

1. Be in control of your spending.
2. Set up a savings plan that will be easy to stick to.
3. Understand the good and bad sides to borrowing.
4. Consider running your own small business.
5. Understand the relationship between risk and return.
6. Make wise investment decisions.
7. Know broadly what to insure and what not to.
8. Recognise most scams.
9. Assess how important money is to you.

• Introduction
• Why it’s really difficult to “get rich quick”
• Spending and budgeting
• Saving, including KiwiSaver
• Borrowing, mortgages and home ownership
• Successful investing strategies
• Relationships between time and money
• Weighing up investment options
• Starting and running your own business
• Problems and scams
• Insurance
• Putting it all together
• Money, emotions of investing, and happiness

Teaching will be mainly via lectures, which will include considerable class discussion. The class will meet for two one-hour lectures a week, and each student will also take part in one one-hour smaller discussion group during the course. Active participation is essential, and students will be expected to master material assigned in readings and presented in class lectures.
 

To pass the course, an overall grade of at least 50% is required.

Final grade will be made up of:

• Completion of several short practical assignments (Total of 21%)
• Class discussion – short assignment and participation (4%)
• Mid-semester test (30%)
• Final exam (45%)
• Test and exam: Multiple choice and short answers. Bring calculator. NOT open book.

• Prescribed Text: “Get Rich Slow” by Mary Holm, published by Penguin.
• Coursebook.
• Retirement Commission website, www.sorted.org.nz.
• Recommended reading: The Business section and consumer and personal finance articles in the New Zealand Herald.
• Other material will be made available on CECIL.