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Financial Foundations Final Project

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Final project · 30–45 minutes

Build a household financial plan

Use this fictional household to connect budgeting, protection, debt and long-term decisions. Work through the numbers on paper, then take the scored check and review your written plan.

The household

Jordan takes home $3,600 monthly. Essentials cost $2,100, required debt minimums $200 and flexible spending $500. Emergency savings are $4,600. Debts include $1,000 at 12% APR and $2,500 at 24%. A $2,400 move is planned in 12 months, with $600 already reserved for it separately from the emergency fund.

Your assignment

  1. Calculate available monthly cash and the moving contribution. Assign the remaining amount among an emergency buffer, extra debt payments and other priorities. Explain your trade-off.
  2. Recalculate emergency runway after a $600 urgent repair and complete loss of income. Keep the moving fund separate unless you explicitly decide to redirect it.
  3. Choose a debt repayment method and explain how minimum payments remain covered.
  4. Explain why near-term moving money and long-term retirement money need different risk assumptions.
  5. Write two steps for responding to a suspicious bank message and two questions to verify before accepting a payment hardship arrangement.
  6. Choose a review date and name a change that would trigger an earlier review.

Written-plan rubric

Check each area: correct arithmetic; all essential costs included; explicit assumptions; a defensible priority order; realistic risk and protection choices; a specific follow-up date. A strong plan explains uncertainty rather than claiming one guaranteed best answer.

Compare with a sample approach after trying

Available cash is $800. The move needs $150 monthly, leaving $650. One illustrative allocation is $250 extra to the 24% debt, $250 to emergency savings and $150 flexibility. This is not a personalized recommendation or the only reasonable allocation. After a $600 repair, the emergency fund is $4,000; with no income and $2,300 essentials plus minimums, runway is about 1.74 months. A material income loss calls for a revised plan and provider contacts rather than mechanically continuing optional goals.

Final knowledge check

Pass with at least 8 of 10 correct. Every question has an explanation. A passing score does not replace the written-plan self-review below.

1. Jordan takes home $3,600. Essentials are $2,100, debt minimums $200 and flexible spending $500. Amount left before additional saving?
2. A $2,400 goal has $600 already saved and 12 months left. Monthly saving before interest?
3. Emergency savings $4,600 pays a $600 repair. If income stops and essentials plus minimums are $2,300 monthly, runway is about…
4. Minimums are current. Debts are $1,000 at 12% and $2,500 at 24%. Avalanche targets…
5. A $900 balance on a $3,000 limit gives utilization of…
6. Money needed for a compulsory bill in two months should depend on a stock-price recovery.
7. A caller demands a one-time bank code. Best next step?
8. A hypothetical eligible $800 deduction entirely at 25% marginal tax rate saves…
9. A health-plan out-of-pocket maximum generally includes all monthly premiums.
10. Which action turns this plan into a repeatable routine?

Your written plan

Use only the fictional household. Do not enter account numbers, personal financial details or medical information. Your text stays in this browser.

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