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Personal Finance

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Personal Finance
The basic aspects of personal finance seem to be obvious to a fair number of people. However, due to the typical American education system, there are a vast majority of graduating high school students that enter the so-called ‘real world’ without having any practical knowledge on how to properly manage, spend, and invest the money they are hoping to make. The addition of a personal finance course, such as the one just taken over this summer session, to a standard high school curriculum would help assist future generations in enabling themselves to gain control over their finances, and would thus help the country as a whole by reducing the national debt.
This course has taught me aspects that directly relate to my own financial …show more content…

It has become natural to use a credit card for the vast majority of purchases, and there are limitless varieties as to the types of cards, companies, banks, and benefits that one can have the choice of. While the word is thrown around almost constantly, the actual concept of credit is more complicated than just swiping a card or waving a phone would have you believe. The idea behind credit is a mutual arrangement between two or more parties to receive some type of good immediately, while making a promise to pay for these purchases at some point in the future. One’s credit is impacted by how much they take and by how quickly they pay back these purchases. A consumer who regularly pays back what the credit company is due each month will have better credit than one who pushes off payments as long as …show more content…

These accounts, unlike traditional IRAs, are not tax deductible, but the amounts withdrawn are subject to neither taxation nor penalization. However, becoming qualified to open a Roth IRA is subject to federal income restrictions, and one can only have the account if they make within a certain range of income per year. While IRAs are contributed to by the contributor themselves, a 401k plan is funded by an employer and a given employee. The money is drawn directly from the employee’s pre-tax salary, and the employer is obligated to place some money in the account as well. There are limitations to this seemingly perfect plan, and they are sizable. One is not allowed to place more than $18,000 per year in the account, there is no US Government insurance coverage over the funds in these accounts, and the owner is restricted in regards to their investment

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