Personal finance principles

 It is hard to define universal personal finance principles because:

individual situations vary significantly when it comes to income, wealth, and consumption requirements

tax and financial regulations vary between countries

market conditions change both geographically and over time.

A financial advisor can offer personalized advice in complicated situations and for high-wealth individuals. Still, University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack and personal finance writer Helaine Olen argue that in the United States, good personal finance advice boils down to a few simple points.

Pay off credit card balances every month in full

Dedicate 10-20% of post-tax income for savings and investments

Create an emergency fund that can last at least 6 months

Maximize contributions to tax-advantaged funds such as a 401(k) retirement funds, individual retirement accounts, and 529 education savings plans

When investing savings:

Avoid trading individual securities

Look for low-cost, diversified mutual funds that balance risk vs. reward appropriately to an individual's target retirement year

If using a financial advisor, require them to commit to a fiduciary duty to act in an individual's best interest

The limits stated by laws may be different in each country; in any case personal finance should not disregard correct behavioral principles and the diligence of a "good family father": people should not develop attachment to the idea of money, morally reprehensible, and, when investing, should maintain the medium-long-term horizon avoiding hazards in the expected return of investment.

Personal Loan History

 Before a specialty in personal finance was developed, various disciplines which are closely related to it, such as family economics, and consumer economics, were taught in various colleges as part of home economics for over 100 years.

The earliest known research in personal finance was done in 1920 by Hazel Kyrk. Her dissertation at University of Chicago laid the foundation of consumer economics and family economics.[1] Margaret Reid, a professor of Home Economics at the same university, is recognized as one of the pioneers in the study of consumer behavior and Household behavior.

In 1947, Herbert A. Simon, a Nobel laureate, suggested that a decision-maker did not always make the best financial decision because of limited educational resources and personal inclinations.[1] In 2009, Dan Ariely suggested the 2008 financial crisis showed that human beings do not always make rational financial decisions, and the market is not necessarily automated and corrective of any imbalances in the economy.

Research into personal finance is based on several theories, such as social exchange theory and andragogy (adult learning theory). In America, professional bodies such as American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences and the American Council on Consumer Interests started to play an important role in developing this field from the 1950s to the 1970s. The establishment of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) in 1984 at Iowa State University and the Academy of Financial Services (AFS) in 1985 marked an important milestone in personal finance history in the US. Attendances of the two societies mainly come from faculty and graduates from business and home economics colleges. AFCPE started to offered several certifications for professionals in this field, such as Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) and Certified Housing Counselor (CHC). Meanwhile, AFS cooperates with Certified Financial Planner (CFP Board).

Before 1990, the study of personal finance received little attention from mainstream economists and business faculties. However, several American universities such as Brigham Young University, Iowa State University, and San Francisco State University started to offer financial educational programs in both undergraduate and graduate programs since the 1990s. These institutions published several works in journals such as The Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning and the Journal of Personal Finance.

As the concerns about consumers' financial capability increased during the early 2000s, various education programs emerged, catering to a broad audience or a specific group of people, such as youth and women. The educational programs are frequently known as "financial literacy". However, there was no standardized curriculum for personal finance education until after the 2008 financial crisis. The United States President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability was set up in 2008 to encourage financial literacy among the American people. It also stressed the importance of developing a standard in financial education.

Personal finance

 

Personal finance is the financial management that an individual or a family unit performs to budget, save, and spend monetary resources in a controlled manner, taking into account various financial risks and future life events.

When planning personal finances, the individual would take into account the suitability of various banking products (checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, and loans), insurance products (health insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, etc.), and investment products (bonds, stocks, real estate, etc.), as well as participation in monitoring and management of credit scores, income taxes, retirement funds and pensions.

Unsecured loans

 

Unsecured loans are monetary loans that are not secured against the borrower's assets. These may be available from financial institutions under many different guises or marketing packages:

Credit cards

Personal loans

Bank overdrafts

Credit facilities or lines of credit

Corporate bonds (may be secured or unsecured)

Peer-to-peer lending

The interest rates applicable to these different forms may vary depending on the lender and the borrower. These may or may not be regulated by law. In the United Kingdom, when applied to individuals, these may come under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Interest rates on unsecured loans are nearly always higher than for secured loans because an unsecured lender's options for recourse against the borrower in the event of default are severely limited, subjecting the lender to higher risk compared to that encountered for a secured loan. An unsecured lender must sue the borrower, obtain a money judgment for breach of contract, and then pursue execution of the judgment against the borrower's unencumbered assets (that is, the ones not already pledged to secured lenders). In insolvency proceedings, secured lenders traditionally have priority over unsecured lenders when a court divides up the borrower's assets. Thus, a higher interest rate reflects the additional risk that in the event of insolvency, the debt may be uncollectible.

Secured Loan

 

A secured loan is a form of debt in which the borrower pledges some asset (i.e., a car, a house) as collateral.

A mortgage loan is a very common type of loan, used by many individuals to purchase residential or commercial property. The lender, usually a financial institution, is given security – a lien on the title to the property – until the mortgage is paid off in full. In the case of home loans, if the borrower defaults on the loan, the bank would have the legal right to repossess the house and sell it, to recover sums owing to it. Loan modification can avoid defaults.

Similarly, a loan taken out to buy a car may be secured by the car. The duration of the loan is much shorter – often corresponding to the useful life of the car. There are two types of auto loans, direct and indirect. In a direct auto loan, a bank lends the money directly to a consumer. In an indirect auto loan, a car dealership (or a connected company) acts as an intermediary between the bank or financial institution and the consumer.

Other forms of secured loans include loans against securities – such as shares, mutual funds, bonds, etc. This particular instrument issues customers a line of credit based on the quality of the securities pledged. Gold loans are issued to customers after evaluating the quantity and quality of gold in the items pledged. Corporate entities can also take out secured lending by pledging the company's assets, including the company itself. The interest rates for secured loans are usually lower than those of unsecured loans. Usually, the lending institution employs people (on a roll or on a contract basis) to evaluate the quality of pledged collateral before sanctioning the loan.

Loan

 In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.

The document evidencing the debt (e.g., a promissory note) will normally specify, among other things, the principal amount of money b

orrowed, the interest rate the lender is charging, and the date of repayment. A loan entails the reallocation of the subject asset(s) for a period of time, between the lender and the borrower.

The interest provides an incentive for the lender to engage in the loan. In a legal loan, each of these obligations and restrictions is enforced by contract, which can also place the borrower under additional restrictions known as loan covenants. Although this article focuses on monetary loans, in practice, any material object might be lent.

Acting as a provider of loans is one of the main activities of financial institutions such as banks and credit card companies. For other institutions, issuing of debt contracts such as bonds is a typical source of funding.

Financial accounting

 Financial accounting is a branch of accounting concerned with the summary, analysis and reporting of financial transactions related to a business. This involves the preparation of financial statements available for public use. Stockholders, suppliers, banks, employees, government agencies, business owners, and other stakeholders are examples of people interested in receiving such information for decision making purposes.

Financial accountancy is governed by both local and international accounting standards. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is the standard framework of guidelines for financial accounting used in any given jurisdiction. It includes the standards, conventions and rules that accountants follow in recording and summarizing and in the preparation of financial statements.

On the other hand, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a set of accounting standards stating how particular types of transactions and other events should be reported in financial statements. IFRS are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). With IFRS becoming more widespread on the international scene, consistency in financial reporting has become more prevalent between global organizations.

While financial accounting is used to prepare accounting information for people outside the organization or not involved in the day-to-day running of the company, managerial accounting provides accounting information to help managers make decisions to manage the business.

Business finance

 

Business finance, or corporate finance, covers all the financial activities related to running a business. You can think of this in terms of acquisitions and investments, funding, capital budgeting, risk management, and tax management needed for business growth in financial markets. 

Companies must balance cash flow, risks, and investment opportunities to increase their value and strengthen their capital structure. 

A great example of corporate finance is when a business chooses between equity financing and debt financing to raise capital. Equity financing is the act of securing funding through stock exchanges and issues, while debt finance is a loan that must be repaid with interest on an agreed date.

Businesses have to develop a revenue-generation plan which determines business profitability in the medium- and long term.

Public Finance

 Like individuals, governments must allocate their resources to different sectors of the economy. Public finance is how federal, state, and local institutions track revenue and manage expenses for all the services they provide to the public. 

Some of a government’s most essential functions include collecting money from the public sector via taxes, raising capital through bonds, and channeling money into a broad range of services that benefit the public. When the public sector distributes tax revenues across multiple functions, including debt servicing, infrastructural development, and recurring expenditures. By overseeing income generation and government spending, government agencies help ensure a stable economy and prevent market failure. 

Other aspects of public finance include tax management, debt issuance, budgeting, international trade, and inflation regulation. These factors have a direct and lasting effect on business and personal finance. 

Personal finance

 Personal finance refers to managing an individual’s monetary resources across 5 key areas: Income, savings, investments, spending decisions, and asset protection. The goal is to make intelligent investment decisions and build a safety net and meet their goals without taking on too many debt obligations.

A personal financial system can also involve generational wealth transfer, taking advantage of tax planning opportunities, filing tax returns, using credit cards, and buying, selling, and managing assets. Personal finance is always tailored to one’s specific needs in the short, medium, or long term. 

This means that two people may not make the same financial decisions because of their different goals, earning potential, incomes, and timeframes. When it comes to managing your finances, it’s important to set both short-term and long-term goals. For instance, you may want to prioritize paying off a loan in the short-term, while also considering long-term investments in real estate or the stock market. Personal finance software can be a helpful tool to assist you with modern financial management.

How Personal Finance Can Impact Your Business

Business owners must develop a strategic personal finance plan to protect them from unforeseen circumstances. For example, having personal savings may help you raise startup capital for your business, and saving for retirement helps the business owner avoid running out of money and being forced to sell the business.

History Finanace

 The origin of finance can be traced to the beginning of state formation and trade during the Bronze Age. The earliest historical evidence of finance is dated to around 3000 BCE. Banking originated in West Asia, where temples and palaces were used as safe places for the storage of valuables. Initially, the only valuable that could be deposited was grain, but cattle and precious materials were eventually included. During the same period, the Sumerian city of Uruk in Mesopotamia supported trade by lending as well as the use of interest. In Sumerian, "interest" was mas, which translates to "calf". In Greece and Egypt, the words used for interest, tokos and ms respectively, meant "to give birth". In these cultures, interest indicated a valuable increase, and seemed to consider it from the lender's point of view.The Code of Hammurabi (1792–1750 BCE) included laws governing banking operations. The Babylonians were accustomed to charging interest at the rate of 20 percent per year. By 1200 BCE, cowrie shells were used as a form of money in China.

The use of coins as a means of representing money began in the years between 700 and 500 BCE. Herodotus mentions the use of crude coins in Lydia around 687 BCE and, by 640 BCE, the Lydians had started to use coin money more widely and opened permanent retail shops. Shortly after, cities in Classical Greece, such as Aegina, Athens, and Corinth, started minting their own coins between 595 and 570 BCE. During the Roman Republic, interest was outlawed by the Lex Genucia reforms in 342 BCE, though the provision went largely unenforced. Under Julius Caesar, a ceiling on interest rates of 12% was set, and much later under Justinian it was lowered even further to between 4% and 8%.

The first stock exchange was opened in Antwerp in 1531.[46] Since then, popular exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange (founded in 1773) and the New York Stock Exchange (founded in 1793) were created.

Financial mathematics

 

Financial mathematics is the field of applied mathematics concerned with financial markets; Louis Bachelier's doctoral thesis, defended in 1900, is considered to be the first scholarly work in this area. The field is largely focused on the modeling of derivatives—with much emphasis on interest rate- and credit risk modeling—while other important areas include insurance mathematics and quantitative portfolio management. Relatedly, the techniques developed are applied to pricing and hedging a wide range of asset-backed, government, and corporate-securities.

As above, in terms of practice, the field is referred to as quantitative finance and / or mathematical finance, and comprises primarily the three areas discussed. The main mathematical tools and techniques are, correspondingly:

for derivatives, Itô's stochastic calculus, simulation, and partial differential equations; see aside boxed discussion re the prototypical Black-Scholes model and the various numeric techniques now applied

for risk management, value at risk, stress testing and "sensitivities" analysis (applying the "greeks"); the underlying mathematics comprises mixture models, PCA, volatility clustering and copulas.

in both of these areas, and particularly for portfolio problems, quants employ sophisticated optimization techniques

Mathematically, these separate into two analytic branches: derivatives pricing uses risk-neutral probability (or arbitrage-pricing probability), denoted by "Q"; while risk and portfolio management generally use physical (or actual or actuarial) probability, denoted by "P". These are interrelated through the above "Fundamental theorem of asset pricing".

The subject has a close relationship with financial economics, which, as outlined, is concerned with much of the underlying theory that is involved in financial mathematics: generally, financial mathematics will derive and extend the mathematical models suggested. Computational finance is the branch of (applied) computer science that deals with problems of practical interest in finance, and especially emphasizes the numerical methods applied here.

Managerial finance

 

Managerial finance  is the branch of finance that deals with the financial aspects of the management of a company, and the financial dimension of managerial decision-making more broadly. It provides the theoretical underpin for the practice described above, concerning itself with the managerial application of the various finance techniques. Academics working in this area are typically based in business school finance departments, in accounting, or in management science.

The tools addressed and developed relate in the main to managerial accounting and corporate finance: the former allow management to better understand, and hence act on, financial information relating to profitability and performance; the latter, as above, are about optimizing the overall financial structure, including its impact on working capital. Key aspects of managerial finance thus include:

Financial planning and forecasting

Capital budgeting

Capital structure

Working capital management

Risk management

Financial analysis and reporting.

The discussion, however, extends to business strategy more broadly, emphasizing alignment with the company's overall strategic objectives; and similarly incorporates the managerial perspectives of planning, directing, and controlling.