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FNCE322 assignment

Assignment 1
Assignment 1 is due after Lesson 5
and is worth 10% of your final mark. The plan should be approximately 8 to 10
pages in length, including a balance sheet and an income statement. The exact
length is less important than thorough, but succinct, coverage of the topic.
In Assignment 1, you will integrate
the concepts and calculations from the course with your own financial planning.
The assignment has two parts. Read
through all of Assignment 1 before you begin. Review the Assignment 1 Tips at
the end of the assignment instructions.
Be sure to show all of your math or
calculator keying sequences to support your calculations. This will help your
marker provide valuable feedback to you for examination preparation.
In Part A, you will construct
a timeline outlining the goals you wish to accomplish between now and the end
of your life, the cost of those goals, and the savings needed to achieve them.
In Part B, you will outline
tax-planning strategies you will use to maximize your after-tax income to
better facilitate accomplishing the plan you outline in Part A.

Part A:
Financial Planning Timeline (3 steps)
Step
1—Draw the Timeline
Draw your own financial planning
timeline. On the timeline, show the years between now and the year of your estimated
death. (Mortality tables and family history may help you estimate your
lifespan.) On the timeline, in the proper year, plot significant financial
events and goals. Consider the major events that might occur in your life. At a
minimum, include the four goals outlined in Step 2 below.
A sample timeline (see the PDF on
Assignment page) is provided as a reference. Note that the sample timeline does
not show dollar amounts and that major events in the sample are highlighted
with superscripts.
As with the sample, your timeline
will not include dollar amounts. Use superscripts to indicate which events and
goals are supported by notes and calculations (the financial planning details
you develop in Step 2).

Step 2—Goals in Detail
Provide details for each goal on
your timeline. Refer to each goal by the number you used as a superscript in
your timeline. In your discussion
describe each goal very brieflyestimate its cost and explain
how you arrived at the amount. Be sure to research and reference your
sources; for example, for housing research, indicate the inflation
applicable to your area, or for education, estimate the inflation rates
specific to post-secondary education. Provide a breakdown of such costs as
travel expenses for a vacation goal.state how you have dealt with
inflationoutline any assumptions you
made.
You will have to consider the
lifestyle expectations you have for your working life and your retirement. You
may find your parents, siblings, grandparents, and spouse helpful in thinking
through your goals and in quantifying them.
Be sure to include the four goals
listed below; additional goals will be the result of your unique preferences.
We recognize that you may not have all the goals below in your personal life.
However, all four goals should be included in this assignment, even if they are
hypothetical. The objectives of this assignment are for you to learn the steps
required in setting and planning for each of these types of goals and to make
the plan as applicable to your personal life as possible. The overriding
benefit of this assignment is learning the processes and time value of money
math for these types of goals. This should help substantially with examination
preparation.
Education

What will a university education cost when your children are ready to
attend? Be sure to consider tuition as well as living costs. Check on
current costs and think about how these might change, and reference all
sources you use. Remember that tuition costs might increase at a greater
rate than general consumer prices. How much will you have to save in order
to have enough money when each child starts university to fund that
child’s entire education? If your children are already past university
age, set these goals for grandchildren or other children you deem needy
and worthy.
Retirement

Follow the process outlined in Figure 16.3 on page 470 of the textbook.
You will have completed chapter 3 (Understanding the Time Value of Money)
at this point in the course, and the math included in Figure 16.3 should
be understandable. The figure will assist you with the process (math
steps) appropriate for this goal.

At what age do you wish to retire? To what age can you reasonably expect
to live? How much retirement income will you need in order to support the
lifestyle you desire? Assume you will have to pay your own way in
retirement and you will not rely on government-sponsored programs such as
Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan, or employer pension plans;
therefore, you would skip this step as shown in Figure 16.3. Remember that
your retirement income requirements will be driven by your consumption
patterns. Be sure to consider the costs of retirement activities such as
travel. How much will you need at the time of retirement to fund your
retirement years?
Housing

How will housing costs change over your life? Research the cost of housing
and trends in the area where you might like to live and retire. For
example, you may want to live your working life in Regina and then retire
in Kelowna. The housing prices are different in these two places.

Assume you will get a mortgage for 75% of the appraised value of the
house. (If you wish, you may use 80%, the current percentage allowed by
most financial institutions.) The other 25% (you may use 20%) will come
from the down payment that you will save. You will need to calculate
mortgage payments. Be sure to show your math calculations (see chapter 3
for the three-step process) or your calculator keying sequence.
Major Trip

Plan a major trip with your spouse after your last child has finished
university. Determine how much the trip will cost. Be explicit about the
destination, today’s cost, and the likely cost when you plan to take the
trip. Credit all sources you use as references. Provide a reasonably thorough
breakdown of the trip costs rather than assessing an approximate single
lump sum amount.

Step 3—Calculate Savings Required
Calculate how much you must save,
per year, during your working career in order to achieve your objectives.
Assume that your ability to accomplish goals will come from your yearly savings
and not from any inheritances or investments.
After you have determined the yearly
savings required, estimate how much you must earn, before tax, to have this
amount of savings available each year. Is the income requirement realistic,
given your goals? If not, your goals must be modified or changes made to your
“income available for savings” line on your income statement such that the
goals are attainable.

Part B:
Tax-Planning Strategies
List five major tax-planning
strategies you will use to maximize your after-tax income and facilitate
achieving your goals, as outlined in Part A. Be sure to state why you have
selected these five strategies as the most important. Each strategy should be distinctly
different. Features, strengths, and weaknesses of each strategy should be
outlined and made specific to your individual plan. Each strategy should be at
least one quality paragraph in length.

How Will
Assignment 1 Be Write a word essay – Evaluate d?
Part A is 75% of Assignment 1. Your
mark for Part A will be based on the following:
Is your timeline comprehensive?
The four generic goals stated in Step 2 are the minimum—you will have
other goals.How much research did you
undertake to ascertain realistic costs? Be sure to provide references for
your research sources.Are your calculations accurate
and complete? Be sure you deal in actual dollar amounts that reflect the
effects of inflation.
Part B is 25% of Assignment 1. Your
mark for Part B will be based on how well you explain the strategies you choose
and justify why they are important.

Assignment
1 Tips
Part A

In Step 2, Goals in Detail, and Step 3, Calculate Savings Required, be sure you
support the calculations for all goals within the financial plan. Proper time
value of money (TVM) math or financial calculator keying sequences must be
shown.

See Chapter 3 of the textbook and the corresponding lesson notes to ensure
you have done the TVM calculations properly throughout the plan. It is
essential that you understand and be able to perform proper TVM calculations;
these skills are necessary for completing Assignment 1 and for preparing for
examinations.

For the retirement plan (Step 2, Goals in Detail) you will find it helpful to
follow the process outlined in Figure 16.3 (p. 470 of the textbook). As you use
this process for Assignment 1, ignore the CPP and OAS information.
In Step 3 – Calculate Savings
Required, you are asked to identify the average savings rates for a Canadian
earning $50,000, $100,000, etc. per year. These statistics are no longer
readily available.

In lieu of determining the savings rates at various income levels, you should
determine the total annual savings amount needed (as calculated using time
value of money math) to achieve all your personal goals within the assignment.
Then, compare your personal required savings rate (annual savings amount needed
divided by after-tax income available for living expenses) with the average
Canadian’s savings rate in general. Discuss whether the personal required
savings rate is reasonable when compared to the average Canadian’s savings
rate. If it is not, a reasonable explanation should be provided as to how goals
will be achieved; otherwise, the goals may need to be modified.

You may find the following link to Statistics Canada helpful:
.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/indi02a.htm”>http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/indi02a.htm

Part B
Be sure you devote sufficient time
and energy to your tax-planning strategies. Remember, Part B is worth 25% of
Assignment 1. At a minimum, this part of your assignment should include clear,
well-written paragraphs (one paragraph per strategy) outlining why the strategy
would be advantageous (and limitations of the strategy, if applicable) as well
as comments on how the strategy applies specifically to your plan.

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