Crowell School of Business
Personal Financial Planning
Create a comprehensive financial plan for your life
Taking money out of a wallet
Enroll NowSample Course
$24.998 LessonsWorkshop
Overview

Psychologists have long realized that people tend to organize themselves through the process of goal-setting, and those who do it well tend to exhibit higher psychological well-being.  This happens because the pursuit of personal goals help provide meaning and structure to one’s activities and identity. Michelangelo, the famous painter, once said, “the great danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”  This danger is especially true when it comes to financial goal setting. Our financial lives are complicated, and we need to make financial decisions every day of our lives. Having a personal financial plan helps provide meaning and structure to our every financial decision, which enables us to have a deeper enjoyment of God’s resources.

But, how do we go about creating an effective financial plan? In this course we will explore the typical types of financial goals and how to prioritize them through identifying your core values. We will learn how to calculate the amount of monthly savings required to meet your goals given that, over time, interest is earned from investments and purchasing power is lost from inflation. We will look at how to manage certain destructive personality money scripts that get in the way of financial plans. We will also explore whether saving regularly means you have to be less generous, and how generosity integrates with financial planning. By the end of the course you will have a comprehensive financial plan for your life that will help provide meaning and structure to your daily financial decisions.

This course features video lectures from Professor Shane Enete, CFA, from Biola University's Crowell School of Business. Professor Enete is the director of the Personal Financial Planning Program at Biola University through the Crowell School of Business. He also founded the Biola University Inspire Research Institute for Biblical Responsible Investing during 2017. He worked as an investment research professional for over 10 years for large institutional asset managers. His duties included valuing public stock securities, modeling asset allocations for billion dollar pension plans and serving as a forensic accountant for a trillion dollar bond manager. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, a M.S. in Mathematical Finance from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and he is a PhD candidate for Personal Financial Planning at Kansas State University. He is married to his lovely wife, Tammy, and has two kids, Sage and Silas.

In this course, you will receive:

  • Video lectures by Professor Enete to walk you through different financial decisions
  • Reflection questions to help you process what you learned in the videos
  • A downloadable coursepack with lecture notes and assignments to help you apply your learnings to your own financial situation

This course is the second course in the Financial Literacy Series of courses available on Biola LEARN. The full list of courses in this series, present in their recommended order of completion, is:

  1. The Bible and Personal Finance
  2. Personal Financial Planning
  3. Basic Money Management (Basic Money Management for Church Leaders also available)
      What You Earn
      Instructor
      Shane Enete
      Crowell School of Business

      Shane Enete, CFA, is the director of the Personal Financial Planning Program at Biola University through the Crowell School of Business. He also founded the Biola University Inspire Research Institute for Biblical Responsible Investing during 2017. He worked as an investment research professional for over 10 years for large institutional asset managers. His duties included valuing public stock securities, modeling asset allocations for billion dollar pension plans and serving as a forensic accountant for a trillion dollar bond manager. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, a M.S. in Mathematical Finance from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and he is a PhD candidate for Personal Financial Planning at Kansas State University. He is married to his lovely wife, Tammy, and has two kids, Sage and Silas.

      Biola University's Crowell School of Business offers undergraduate, graduate and degree completion students a premier business education taught by experienced, professional faculty. While providing excellent academic preparation, Crowell takes learning beyond the classroom — teaching you to broaden your perspectives and bring important wisdom and expertise into your workplace.

      Learn more about Crowell’s degree programs

      Syllabus

      Lesson Introduction:In this lesson, we will...
      Overview
      Search Me, Lead Me
      Video
      Different Personal Money Management Systems
      Video
      Lesson 1 Assignment
      Resource
      Coursepack
      Resource
      Lesson Introduction:Knowing your run-rate will...
      Overview
      Run Rate
      Video
      Run Rate Reporting
      Video
      Lesson 2 Assignment
      Resource
      Lesson Introduction:Achieving our financial...
      Overview
      Money Scripts, Part 1
      Video
      Money Scripts, Part 2
      Video
      Welcome to my World
      Reading
      How Clients' Money Scripts Predict Their Financial Behaviors
      Reading
      “Money worlds” and well-being
      Reading
      Lesson 3 Assignment
      Resource
      Lesson Introduction:Psychologists have long...
      Overview
      Financial Goal Setting
      Video
      Identify Healthy Financial Goals
      Video
      Run Rate and Financial Goals
      Video
      Goal Setting
      Reading
      How to Set and Achieve Financial Goals
      Reading
      Lesson 4 Assignment
      Resource
      Lesson Introduction:There is often an acute...
      Overview
      Practical Generosity
      Video
      Giving Systems
      Video
      30 Questions for Reflection about Your Finances
      Reading
      Richard Foster - The Discipline of Simplicity
      Reading
      Lesson 5 Assignment
      Resource
      Lesson Introduction:Once you have identified...
      Overview
      Mapping the Course
      Video
      Compound Interest
      Video
      Inflation
      Video
      Amortizing Loans
      Video
      Understanding the Time Value of Money
      Reading
      Calculating Amortization
      Reading
      Lesson 6 Assignment
      Resource
      Lesson Introduction:One of the key skills when...
      Overview
      Economic Assumptions
      Video
      Interest Rates
      Video
      Rates of Return
      Video
      How Interest Rates Work
      Reading
      A Primer on Inflation
      Reading
      The Big Picture of Economics
      Reading
      Lesson 7 Assignment
      Resource
      Lesson Introduction:Income statements are used...
      Overview
      Personal Financial Statement, Part 1
      Video
      Personal Financial Statement, Part 2
      Video
      Personal Financial Statement, Part 3
      Video
      Income Statement
      Video
      Balance Sheet
      Video
      Ratios
      Video
      Updating Data
      Video
      Recommended Resources
      Resource
      Course Evaluation
      Resource

      Course FAQ

      Each lesson is designed to take approximately 1-2 hours, depending on how deeply you engage the reflection questions. Since this is a self-paced course, the time it will take you to complete it will depend on the speed with which you want to progress through the course.

      No. The course contains everything you need to successfully complete the course. There are resources recommended at the end of the course that you are free to purchase if you wish to pursue further study on the course topic.

      Since this course is designed as a completely self-paced experience, you will not have any interaction with the professor during the course.