This text addresses financial planning concepts, their application and the risk factor in the management of finances. It is used in the Prince George's Community College course BMT 1620: Financial Planning and Investments, a course where students plan to increase their net worth by building a personal finance portfolio. Emphasis is on liquid asset management and investments such as stocks, bonds, personal property, etc. Additionally, students explore how financial planning impacts tax liability. Furthermore, students examine different types of insurance policies related to life, health, and home. Lastly, students study retirement planning and the components of estate planning.

This is a comprehensive Personal Finance text which includes a wide range of pedagogical aids to keep students engaged and instructors on track. This text has an attitude: that in addition to providing sources of practical information, it should introduce students to a way of thinking about their personal financial decisions. The book is arranged by learning objectives. The headings, summaries, reviews, and problems all link together via the learning objectives. This helps instructors to teach what they want, and to assign the problems that correspond to the learning objectives covered in class. This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation and Montgomery College under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. The text has been made available as a Word Dcoument and as a PDF.