FINS5510 Personal Financial Planning

Overview

*All times are based on Sydney time

The purpose of this assignment is to help you to develop a detailed financial plan that will act as a financial roadmap for the rest of your life. Each section of your financial plan provides you with the opportunity to reflect deeply on the theory covered in the course and to make practical, specific and detailed application of that theory to your expected future life stages. You should work on your financial plan gradually during the term as you cover each Unit. You should use the Microsoft Word template provided and submit the final document in PDF format. There is no word limit for this assignment but most submissions are between 3,000 and 9,000 words.

This is an individual assignment. Copying the work of another student, basing your financial plan on another student’s work, asking anyone else to write your financial plan, obtaining assistance from an Artificial Intelligence computer program, providing a copy of your financial plan to another student or posting your financial plan on a website is academic misconduct and will result in a fail grade being awarded for this course.

Weight

The Financial Plan assignment is worth 50% of your assessment for this course.

Backup your work

You should be writing your financial plan assignment gradually over the term after you have completed each Unit. You also need to plan for a situation in which the file may become corrupted or your device is damaged. Please create regular copies of your work and place them into a ‘Backups’ folder. Make sure this folder is synchronisedonto a USB key or a cloud-based storage solution such as OneDrive or Dropbox (or an equivalent service in China for students who cannot access these services). Note that UNSW provides you with a free Onedrive account. Loss of data or a damaged device does not constitute grounds for Special Consideration.

Note that if you have saved your file in your UNSW Onedrive account, you should be able to restore a backup from your file history. Here is a linkon how to do this.

If you lose your file and are unable to restore from a backup, a standard late penalty of 5 marks (out of 100) per day will apply. Technical problems with your file or device does not represent grounds for a Special Consideration extension.

Late Penalties

Late submission will incura penalty of 5% per day or part thereof (including weekends) from the due date and time. An assessment will not be accepted after 5 days (120 hours) of the original deadline unless special consideration has been approved. An assignment is considered late if the requested format, such as hard copy or electronic copy, has not been submitted on time or where the ‘wrong’ assignment has been submitted.

The late penalty applies to your score for the financial plan (not the maximum possible score). For example, if your raw score is 70/100 and the plan is submitted 2 days late, a 10 mark penalty will apply and so your score would be reduced to 60/100.

Note that there is a small ‘grace period’ of a few minutes after the submission time to allow for slow internet connections or slow website performance. No penalty will apply if the submission is within this ‘grace period’ . Please do not email me asking if your submission falls within this grace period.

Since you are supposed to be working on this assignment gradually each week as the course progresses, the maximum period of special consideration that will be granted for this assessment (for any reason) is 7 days from the original due date. Also, the maximum extension that will be granted for Equitable Learning Plans will also by 7 days from the original due date. Any submissions received after this will automatically be awarded a score of zero.

Special Consideration

Special consideration will only be granted in exceptional cases. You are responsible for developing your financial plan gradually as you work through each Unit of the course materials. You should work on your financial plan as you cover each Unit and avoid leaving it until last minute. You are responsible for completing your financial plan well before the due date/time to allow for unexpected circumstances or illness. Being ill during the  last week  before the date of submission will not normally constitute grounds for special consideration.

Loss  of  data  or  a  damaged  device  does  not  constitute  grounds  for  Special Consideration. You are responsible to regularly backup your work and synchronise it onto a cloud-based storage solution (such as OneDrive or Dropbox).

If special consideration is granted, the maximum extension that will be granted is 7 days from the original due date. Any financial plans received more than 7 days from the original due date will automatically be awarded a score of zero.

An application for Special Consideration together with supporting documentation must be submitted online within 3 working days of the due date. The process for applying for special consideration is here:https://student.unsw.edu.au/special-consideration

No Short Extensions

The university has recently introduced the option for students to apply for a short extension  without  providing  documentation  (such  as  a  medical  certificate).  This assessment task is not eligible for a short extension without documentation.

Individual Assessment

This is an individual assessment. You are permitted to discuss the contents of this assessment with your family, a spouse or partner. However, all written work, research and supporting calculations must be your own work. Seeking assistance with your written  work  or  financial  modelling  constitutes  academic  misconduct.  Seeking assistance from Artificial Intelligence computer programs also constitutes academic misconduct. Providing assistance to any other students also constitutes academic misconduct. Copying or paraphrasing the work of any other student (from current or previous terms) constitutes academic misconduct. Copying the work of another student and  then  changing  the  details  to  reflect  your  situation  and  strategies  constitutes academic misconduct. Using another student’s financial plan as a ‘reference’ for you while you complete your own financial plan is also academic misconduct. Posting a copy of your assignment on a website is academic misconduct (except for submitting your assignment on the course website under the appropriate submission link).

If another student approaches you for assistance, please note the time, date and details of the incident and email the details to meat [email protected].

UNSW has no tolerance for students who are dishonest or seek to obtain an unfair advantage over other students. Academic misconduct is a serious offence. It can result in zero being awarded for this assessment, a failure grade for the course and/or removal from the University.

No Artificial Intelligence

Using Artificial Intelligence programs or services is not permitted in this assessment.

There are two exceptions to the above ‘no use of Artificial Intelligence’ rule. Students for whom English is their second language are allowed to use Artificial Intelligence programs  (such as Google Translate) to translate from their native  language  into English or to translate from English to their native language. Students with writing difficulties are allowed to use Artificial Intelligence programs (such as Grammarly) to help correct their spelling and grammar.

Template

You should use the Microsoft Word template document provided under the ‘Financial Plan’ section of the course website. Do not use another student’s financial plan as your template. Note that as a student at UNSW, you have access to the full suite of Microsoft

Office 365 applications. More information about accessing this software is provided below.

Software

Your Learning Community Report should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document. All students at UNSW have access to the full suite of Microsoft Office 365 products for free (on both Windows and Mac). This includes downloadable versions of the entire Microsoft Office suite to 15 devices (5 desktops, 5 tablets and 5 mobiles).

The steps for downloading the latest version of MS Office are as follows:

1.  Go to https://login.microsoftonline.com

2.  Login   with    the    same   zPass    that    you    use   for    Moodle    using    the ‘[email protected]’ version  of your  UNSW  student  email.  For  example: [email protected]

3.  Click the ‘Install apps’ button

4.  Choose ‘Office 365 apps’ .

For students who use the Linux operating system, you should use a word processor that accepts the Microsoft Word document format (for the template) and export to PDF format.

Exporting to PDF

You are required to submit your assignment using the Microsoft Word template provided in PDF format. Using Microsoft Word, you can export to PDF format using the following process:

1.  Select the ‘ File’ menu at the top left of the screen.

2.  Select ‘ Export’ from the left panel.

3.  Select ‘Create PDF/XPS Document’

4.  Press the ‘Create PDF/XPS’ button.

5.  Check the file name and location is correct.

6.  Press ‘ Publish’ button.

Formatting

For headings and body text, please use the styles in the Microsoft Word template provided.

Fonts: Please only use either Arial (PC) or Helvetica (Mac) fonts. Students with dyslexia who find these fonts difficult to read may use Times New Roman.

Font sizes: Please use font size 11 pt for your body text.

Line spacing: Use the default in the Microsoft Word Template provided (1.08 lines).

Styles: Use the styles provided in the Microsoft Word Template provided. File format: You should submit your file in PDF format.

Filename: Please use the filename following the format ‘zID Plan’ .

If your zID is z999999, you should name your document ‘z999999 Plan’ .

For tables, diagrams, captions, footnotes and other minor formatting elements, you can choose your own formatting and styles. Please make sure they are easy to read.

Table of Contents

You should update the page numbers in the table of contents before submitting the final version of your financial plan. This can be done as follows:

1.  User your mouse to select the table of contents on page 1

2.  Go to the ‘References’ tab on the command bar at the top of Microsoft Word

3.  Select ‘Update Table’ under the ‘Table of Contents’ group on the Ribbon.

4.  Select ‘Update Page Numbers Only’ to only update the page numbers or select ‘Update Entire Table’ to also update your Headings.