1. My risk tolerance score from the risk tolerance quiz shows that I have an average or moderate tolerance for risk. This then means that my personal risk tolerance is moderate. This is especially true because any risks taken personally happen after intense and thorough research on all the available options and full knowledge of the potential risks that each of these investment options entail. Also I am personally more inclined to take investment option which present moderate risks for gain and loss while tending to avoid sure bets which have low risks associated and the highly uncertain investment options associated with high risk potentials for either gain or loss.
2. The corporate bond investment chosen is the Citigroup Inc. corporate with a price of 101.14. The corporate bond has a Fitch rating of A. one of the major strengths of this corporate bond is the high coupon rates offered as well as the high current yield which is available. This means that the corporate bond is likely to generate high yield returns at reduced risks for the investor. Its major weakness however is its Fitch rating of A which means that their corporate bonds are susceptible to the effects of economic changes. However, the potential for high reward ultimately makes this bond an attractive choice.
A worthy stock investment to consider and research currently would be the William Partners LP stock which was one of the biggest gainers of the day in the stock market in terms of price change. The stock has a current price with a positive change of above 2 units and an overall percentage change of over 5%. The strength of this stock is the positive and upward trend that it is currently experiencing. This makes it an attractive stock to research currently. However, the high price of the stock may prove to be a deterrent with a current stock price of 50.80.
The mutual fund investment of choice would be First State Global Resources B Account from Fidelity Investing. It is a general commodities investment fund which offers one of the lowest available maintenance costs and an overall low total cost which makes maintaining the fund affordable and attractive. This is a strength of the fund since its annual maintenance fees are low meaning that an individual can enjoy higher returns from the fund at lower costs. However, the fund does not offer any discounts which would have made the fun even more affordable making this a weakness of the fund. The low total cost that is offered by the investment however makes it a strong choice to consider and the most attractive option to pick for research.
3. The strongest investment option here would be the First State Global Resources B account option. They offer very competitive prices and low costs which makes it a much safer bet. The additional information I would like to know is their yield return figures which would help me understand how much I could gain from investing in this option. The other two options were not rated as highly since there is a considerable element of risk associated with them, that is, the susceptibility to the economy and the high initial price. Understanding my personal risk tolerance as moderate influenced my decision on the investment option of choice since I ended up choosing the investment option that presented the best guarantees of the three options.

Mutual Fund #1 (2 points, .25 per item) Mutual Fund #1 (2 points, .25 per item)
Fund Name; Fund Family; Symbol (i.e. Capital Growth Fund; Vanguard; ABCDE) First State Global Resources Smith & Williamson Far East Income and Growth
Fund Objective (i.e. capital appreciation) General Commodities Income and Growth
Net Asset Value (i.e. Price of the fund 22.45) £398m £25m
Type of Fund
(i.e. income, growth, index, international).
If an index fund, what specific index does it follow? (i.e. S&P 500, NASDAQ, etc.) Type of Fund: Income

If index, what index does it follow? FTSE Type of Fund: UK Unit Trust

If index, what index does it follow? FTSE
Fees:
– Load? What kind & how much? (i.e. Front Load, 3.5%)
– Expense Ratio (i.e. .35%) Load: Front Load, 5%
Expense Ratio:5% Load: Front Load. 4.5%
Expense Ratio:5%
Asset Allocation of the Fund/Funds Five Largest Holdings (i.e.Stocks 75%; Bonds 25%) (Or listing top 5 companies in fund) Commodities 97.2%
Cash 2.8% Equities: 95.8%
Market: 4.2%
Minimum Initial Investment (i.e. $1000);
# of mutual fund shares you can purchase with $5000 (i.e. 5 shares) £1000
£1000
Return on the Fund (i.e. 10% YTD) -6.64% -9.70%

Bond Investment Choice (2 points, .25 per item)
Bond Name (i.e. Goldman Sachs) Citigroup Inc.
Fitch Rating for this Bond (ie. A) A
Coupon Rate? (i.e. 5.3%)
Coupon Payment Frequency? (i.e. monthly) Coupon Rate:6%
Coupon Payment Frequency: Semi Annual
Maturity Date (i.e. Feb 15, 2025) January 15, 2015
Face Value/Price of the Bond (i.e. $100) 101.14
Callable (yes or no?) (i.e. yes) NO
Current Yield? (i.e. 4.6%)
Yield to Maturity? (i.e. 3.7%) Current Yield? 5.952
Yield to Maturity? -3.935
Company Fundamentals (ex. Is this a good company to invest in? How do you know?)

Stock (2 points, .25 per item)
Name; Symbol (i.e. ABC Company stock; ABC) William Partners LP
Category of Stock (i.e. growth) Utilities
Price (at what time/date?); (i.e. $25.21; 2/15/15) 50.7 (Feb 20)
52 week High/Low (i.e. $22 – 53) 45.69-50.91
Dividend Yield (i.e. 1.43) 0.85/6.71
Evaluating your Stock:
– P/E Ratio (i.e. 20)
– Beta (i.e. .5)
– EPS (i.e. 16.2) – P/E Ratio: 46.51
– Beta: 0.46
– EPS: 1.09
Where is the stock trading? (i.e. NYSE or NASDAQ, etc.) NYSE:ACMP
Company Fundamentals (ex. Is this a good company to invest in? How do you know?)
HDFS 238 Personal Finance
Assignment #3- Personal Financial Plan
Investment Retirement Analysis
Assignment Due: April 9th, 2015
Maximum Points: 20 points

Choosing a Retirement Plan (10 points)

Congratulations! You have just graduated from college and are seeking your first full time position. Choosing your workplace investment choices to fund your retirement is essential to planning successfully for your future.

Research two potential full time employers and find out what options you will have to choose from based on their retirement plan. This can be an organization/company that you have been hired at after college, are currently interviewing at, or are just generally interested in working at after you complete your degree. If you do not have an idea of two potential employers, a list of four sample employers HR websites are included in D2L for youto use.

*Sometimes employers can be vague in what they provide to prospective employees. The information listed below contains the type of information you may find on a prospective employer website. However, sometime this information is not available or vague in its description. If this is the case, please state not available.

Complete the attached chart to analyze two future potential employers. (3 points)

Employer #1
(1.5 points) Employer #2
(1.5 points)
Name of Company and Company Website
Type of Retirement Plans
Employer Match? How much?
Vesting Requirements
Maximum Amount that can be Invested/Year
Education/Support Services Available?
Who is eligible to participate?
When can you withdraw the funds?
Other Important Attributes

After completing the chart, provide your responses to the following questions. (Total: 7 points)

1) Analyze the retirement options that you chose. This analysis should include(5 points):
a. Identify and describe the attributes of each employer’s retirement plan.
b. Identify and explain one main advantage and disadvantage of each plan.
c. Identify and explain which employer you felt offers the better retirement benefits.Why?

2) If you could identify one lesson learned about retirement planning, what would it be? Why is this lesson important? (2 points)
Analyzing Your Investment Choices (10 Points)

Based on the already identified investment choices you selected in Assignment #2, please complete the chart below to re-assess your investment options.(2.5 points)

Mutual Fund #1 (.5 points) Mutual Fund #2 (.5 points)
Mutual Fund Name/Symbol
(i.e. Capital Growth Fund) and (i.e. ABCDE) and (i.e. capital appreciation)
Net Asset Value listed on Assignment #2(used on last assignment)
(i.e. Price of the fund – 22.45)
NEW – Net Asset Value – collected between April 2nd through April 9th

Stock (1.5 points)
Stock Name and Symbol(i.e. Google Stock; GOOG)
Stock Price listed on Assignment #2 (i.e. Price of the stock – 22.45)
NEW – Stock Price – collected between April 2nd and April 9th
Potential Return: (1 point)
If you had purchased 25 shares of stock – what would be the total return on the share price between Assignment #2 and the NEW stock price (not including broker fees)?(i.e. $10/share on Assignment #2 and it is now $15/share; potential return = ($15 *25)-($10*25) = $125

*** You must attach your new source to this chart (i.e. print out of fund information should give you a current Mutual Fund NAV and Stock Price – this is the only information that I need to see.) (You do not have to attach the previous source used!) If there is no new source attached, you will not receive points for the chart. ***

After completing the chart, provide your responses to the following questions. (Total: 7.5points)

Describe how the stock and two mutual funds that you researched in Assignment #2 haveperformed over the past few weeks. Include in your explanation an overview of howeach investment option has performedin comparison to the greater market. Your analysis must include:
• Identify howeach investment hasperformed (increased, decreased)
• Explain how the market has performed (in general).
• Identify each investment’s performance in comparison to the greater market.
• Would you choose differently now that you have seen how this investment has performed over the last month? Why or why not?
HDFS 238 Personal Finance
Assignment #3
Rubric for Investment Retirement Analysis
DUE: April 9, 2015

Requirement Points Possible Did you complete this?
Choosing a Retirement Plan – Chart
• Employer #1
• Employer #2 3
Choosing a Retirement Plan – Analysis
• Identify and describe the attributes of each employer’s retirement plan
• Identify and explain one main advantage and disadvantage of each plan
• Identify and explain which employer you felt offers the better retirement benefits. Why do you feel this way?
• If you could identify one lesson learned about retirement planning, what would it be? Why is this lesson important? 7
Analyzing Your Investment Choices – Chart
• Mutual Fund #1 (Name, Symbol, Old and New NAV)
• Mutual Fund #2 (Name, Symbol, Old and New NAV)
• Stock (Name, Symbol, Old and New Price and
Potential Return 2.5
Analyzing Your Investment Choices – Analysis
• Identify how each investment has performed
• Explain how the market has performed
• Identify each investment’s performance in comparison to the
market
• Would you choose differently now that you have seen how this investment hasperformed over the last month? Why or why not? 7.5

Assignment should be: double spaced and stapled
You will lose points if you do not follow this format (-.25 for no staple, -.25 for no double space). There is no maximum or minimum page limit. Full credit will be given to students that answer the questions asked and explain their responses. You must include the above chart and your new source for each of the investments highlighted.

Any questions – please contact Dr. Tobe at [email protected] or Ms. Cho at [email protected]. Good luck!

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