IC213: Personal Finance

Module code: IC213

Module provider: ICMA Centre; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Antony Moore, email: t.moore@icmacentre.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 28 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module covers the aspects of various financial decisions that students might face in their day-to-day life. The module aims to familiarise students with budgeting, borrowing, credit scores, as well as different types of mortgages. Students will also learn about pensions, savings and investment alternatives, insurance, and government support. The relevant regulation and taxation will be discussed as well, together with the ethical concepts that are vital to consider in Finance. Students will get a chance to reflect on how they can better manage their personal finances and improve their financial outlook.

*Disclaimer: This module does not provide personalised financial advice but gives students an opportunity to get informed about personal finance, understand opportunities and risks in finance, reflect and be able to make informed financial decisions.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

• explain and apply fundamental concepts in personal finance.
• demonstrate critical thinking skills by producing a detailed personal financial plan.
• discuss whether and how good personal financial decisions can lead to positive outcomes to the society.

Module content

1. Managing a personal budget. Family budget.
2. Borrowing; managing loans. Car finance. Credit scores.
3. Mortgages. Buying a house.
4. Savings and investments. Risk. Inflation.
5. Pensions.
6. Insurance products.
7. Government support.
8. Estate planning. Wills and intestacy.
9. Main types of trusts and their uses.
10. Personal Taxation. Setting up your company.
11. Regulation. Ethics. Behavioural biases.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures are used to introduce the concepts covered in this module. The seminars allow students to discuss the topics in more detail, consider case studies, reflect and receive feedback. In-person teaching will be supplemented with digital learning such as discussion boards, polling and video recordings.

Study hours

At least 30 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

To pass, students need to obtain a mark of 40% or more.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Peer feedback on project outline.

Feedback from seminar discussions.

Reassessment

Additional costs