Personal Finance

A renowned author, advisor and academic, Dr. E. Thomas Garman is a Fellow and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Virginia Tech University, where he directed the National Institute for Personal Finance Employee Education. He subsequently founded the Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation. Author of 40 books and 200 academic research articles, Dr. Garman directed several funded research studies that link the financial fortunes of employers with the financial health of their employees. His research consistently showed that decreasing employee financial stress and improving personal financial well-being led to positive outcomes for workers and employers. Dr. Garman has worked for a U.S. senator, in economic development in West Africa and for a national non-profit credit counseling organization. He is a Distinguished Fellow of both the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education and the American Council on Consumer Interests. Dr. Garman has served on advisory boards for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, International Board of Standards and Practices for Certified Financial Planners, American National Standards Institute, National Foundation for Credit Counseling, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and National Advertising Review Board. His record of consulting includes work for Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America, Manulife Financial, AT&T, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and U.S. Department of Defense. Dr. Garman’s work has been featured in hundreds of publications, including USA Today, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and U.S. News & World Report, and he has appeared on National Public Radio and NBC Nightly News. Jonathan Fox is the Ruth Whipp Sherwin Endowed Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies; Director of the Financial Counseling Clinic; and Program Leader in financial counseling and planning at Iowa State University. He has taught comprehensive family financial planning for over 30 years at the University of Maryland, Ohio State University, and Iowa State University. His research focuses on the effectiveness of financial education interventions. He has served as principal investigator for several financial education evaluations and his publications appear in journals such as Financial Planning Review, Financial Services Review, Financial Counseling and Planning, Journal of Family Issues, Journal of Financial Therapy and Journal of Consumer Affairs. Dr. Fox works closely with the Certified Financial Planner Board’s Center for Financial Planning in their efforts to connect research and practice within the profession of financial planning. He holds a doctorate from the University of Maryland in consumer economics and a General Course degree from the London School of Economics. For a brief video introduction to Dr. Fox visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qsemEaj1rM

Part I: FINANCIAL PLANNING.
1. Understanding Personal Finance.
2. Career Planning.
3. Financial Statements, Goals, and Budgets.
Part II: MONEY MANAGEMENT.
4. Managing Income Taxes.
5. Managing Checking and Savings Accounts.
6. Building and Maintaining Good Credit.
7. Credit Cards and Consumer Loans.
8. Vehicles and Other Major Purchases.
9. Obtaining Affordable Housing.
Part III: INCOME AND ASSET PROTECTION.
10. Managing Property and Liability Risk.
11. Planning for Health Care Expenses.
12. Life Insurance Planning.
Part IV: INVESTMENTS.
13. Investment Fundamentals.
14. Investing in Stocks and Bonds.
15. Mutual and Exchange-Traded Funds.
16. Real Estate and High-Risk Investments.
17. Retirement and Estate Planning.