Financial Literacy

Financial literacy is the confluence of financial, credit, and debt management knowledge that is necessary to make financially responsible decisions – choices that are integral to our everyday lives. During this course, you will complete a write-up by reflecting on your future career plans after graduation. You will research your starting salary pertaining to the desired location. You will learn how to apply a financial literacy formula to find the compound amount in a savings account.
This Signature Assignment assesses the following skills in addition to your knowledge of the Financial Literacy material.
• Critical Thinking Skills – to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information.
• Communication Skills – to include effective development, interpretation, and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication.
• Empirical and Quantitative Skills – to include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.
The assignment is divided into three sections: the Acknowledgement Quiz, Calculations, and the Final Draft which contains the steps to solving a financial literacy question from your previous calculations.

Essay Guidelines
• Submit 1 PDF file. No other file types will be accepted.
• Use MLA formatting to organise your essay and sources. Visit OWL at Purdue MLA General FormatLinks to an external site. for MLA formatting help.
o Use Times New Roman size 12 font
o Set margins to 1 inch
o Use double line spacing
o Include Last Name Page Number in the header
o On the first page of your paper, include
 Your full name
 Your instructor’s name
 The course name or number
 The due date of the assignment
o Include a works cited page on the last page with proper formatting. Use MLA formatting to organize the sources. Visit OWL at Purdue Works CitedLinks to an external site. for help with the works cited page.
• Paragraphs are typically 3-5 complete sentences. Use a spell checker and consider having someone proofread your essay before you turn it in.
• Plagiarism will be considered Academic Dishonesty and and will be reported to the university accordingly. This includes copying someone else’s project AND turning in a previously used version of your own project. If you are retaking the course, be sure to redo the project.
Need Help?
You may visit the Writing CenterLinks to an external site. in the Central Library for assistance with your writing. Online sources such as Purdue Online Writing LabLinks to an external site. can also be helpful.

Paragraph 1
Write a paragraph describing your employment plans after graduation. Address each of the following questions, supporting your factual statements with sources.

1. What is your major?
2. What is your desired job after graduation?
3. What is your desired geographical location for your post-graduation job?
4. What is the starting salary for your desired job after graduation in your desired geographical location? Mention/Reference at least 1 source.
   Paragraph 2:
   Write a paragraph addressing the following questions. All calculations with supporting work must be included to receive full credit. You can type the calculations using the Insert–Equations in Word or insert a picture of your (neatly) handwritten work.
5. Compute your monthly salary. Round to the nearest cent.
6. Compute 10% of your monthly salary for retirement. Round to the nearest cent.
7. Reflect on the importance on saving for retirement.
   Paragraph 3:
   DO NOT USE GOOGLE OR OTHER SOURCES. YOU MIGHT GET THE WRONG FORMULA.
   Use the appropriate formula from the Financial Literacy Unit and the amount you put aside for retirement each month to solve the problem:
   Suppose you invest your monthly retirement savings into an ordinary annuity that is compounded monthly at 5%.
8. You must identify the formula you choose, explain each of the variables in the formula, and the steps you took to arrive at the answers. Round your answers to the nearest cent.
9. Clearly restate your monthly retirement savings amount.
10. What is the accumulated amount after 20 years?
11. What is the accumulated amount after 40 years?
    All calculations with supporting work must be included to receive full credit. You can type the calculations using the Insert–Equations in Word or insert a picture of your (neatly) handwritten work.
    Paragraph 4:
    • Compute the difference between the accumulated amounts after 20 years and 40 years.
    • Reflect on your calculations between the amount in the account after 20 years and 40 years. Do not just say “40 years accumulates more than 20 years.” Look for some kind of comparison and comment on it.
    o What can you conclude from your calculations?
    o Would it be worth to you to start saving for retirement now?
    • Conclude the assignment with a short reflection on the financial literacy assignment and what you have learned from it.