Although financial literacy is of great importance at every stage of life, it remains extremely low in Europe. This course teaches all the necessary technical fundamentals, as well as strategies and simple rules that will enable students to make the right financial decisions independently in almost any future situation. We practice strategies and rules intensively in class. Specifically, we address the need for and ways to save, the setup of various accounts and cards, avoiding debt, preserving your liquidity, transferring savings into profitable stock investments by minimizing risk as much as possible and in a cost-effective manner, thus creating PROSPERITY.
Our recommendation for wealth accumulation focuses on the use of ETFs, a specific type of fund. Most indices focus stock or bond investments and there are many indices to choose from. The primary goal of the course is that students can identify which index and which of the available ETFs are right for their purpose. The resulting asset allocation (money market, bond, stock and alternative assets) changes over the course of one’s life cycle.
It is possible that investors want to live in their own apartments or houses. This type of project usually requires real estate financing, which can be selected using similar decision-making criteria as already mentioned. However, the concentration risk must be taken into account. In old age, a portion of one’s assets should be invested in short-term instruments to be prepared for unforeseen expenses. The transfer of assets to heirs can be planned with the heirs’ best interests in mind.
This module is not a traditional lecture. This course thrives on contributions from various sources: students, guest speakers, Youtube videos, journals and newspapers, and the instructor. Students play an important and active role in this class. Discussions are taking up more time than usual. We also work on and with new digital tools and sustainability aspects supporting your personal financial framework. Students are required to maintain a sample portfolio, first within a group, at the end on their own.

Individual preparation (pre-reading the offered literature, studying the learning supplements offered in Moodle).

Input by lecturers with discussions, problem-based teaching, project-based teaching

Assignments (students’ group presentations and a final assignment) will improve verbal and written communications skills

Students are able

• to explain the differences between investment instruments (stocks, bonds, money market, alternatives), investment styles (active vs. passive), the influence of risk attitude, age, real asset acquisitions etc. to asset allocation;

• to describe and analyze leverage points important for their prosperity creation;

• to develop independently their own financial plan, prosperity creation and wealth protection;

• to resolve specific problems i.e. in partnerships or in real estate financing, with the help of strategies they have practiced in class.

In this module, students will improve students’ “future skills”, i.e. new skills, important for long life learning and living.

• With independently protecting themselves against financial stress, students’ knowledge will lead to stronger resilience.

• With their new knowledge they will be able to significantly support the society by sharing their knowledge.

• Free discussions in class will improve the capability of critical thinking.

• The coaching offered will improve the students’ competence in presentations and convincingly write texts.

Siegel, R., & Yacht, C. (2009). Personal Finance. Open Textbook Library. Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17. https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/31 Frasca, R.R. (2019). Personal Finance- An integrated planning approach. 8th edition. Pearson, Boston.

Recommended literature: The list will be presented in the Syllabus, which you will receive as soon as the application process is finished.

All Students are required to register before the start of the course (free of charge) on the ETF platform www.justetf.com. Registration is a prerequisite for successful participation in the module, as it provides access to the ETF data required for the course and enables students to register and manage their group's sample portfolio. Please note that registration requires the provision of personal data. By creating an account, students agree to the processing of their personal data by the platform operator in accordance with the operator's privacy policy and terms of use. Please do not take the course if you do not want to register on the platform.

Assessment will generally be based on group presentations and the final essay.
Group Presentations: two presentations, weighted with 30% each, grade based on reaching the content, presentation skills and slides’ format.

Individual Essay: a papers, weighted with 40%, grade based on content, structure and the format of the essay. The relevant grading criteria and requirements will be provided for both forms of assessment on Moodle.

80% mandatory presence

Grading