is Assistant Professor of Personal Financial Planning in the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University. His research focuses on borrowing decisions, the role housing wealth plays in family finances, and how financial behavior is shaped by an individual’s psychological profile. Dr. Seay currently serves on the editorial review board for the Journal of Financial Planning and the Journal of Financial Therapy, as well as serving as Vice President of Communications for the Academy of Financial Services.
Deanna L. Sharpe, PhD, CFP®
Deanna L. Sharpe, PhD, CFP®, is Associate Professor in the Personal Financial Planning Department at the University of Missouri–Columbia. Her research and teaching focuses on relationships between the household and market economy. She has won awards for research on grandparent-headed households and financial issues of having a child with autism. The courses she has taught include Financial Counseling, Personal and Family Finance, Assessing the American Dream, Tax Planning, Employee Benefit and Retirement Planning Family Economics, and Personal Financial Issues of Older Adults.
Michael Snowdon, CFP®
Michael Snowdon, CFP®, is director of education and professionalism at Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB). Michael oversees education and training content development to support FPSB’s professionalism and certification standards. A former practicing financial planner and financial planning educator, Michael has more than 30 years of experience in the financial planning profession, and has authored nationally acclaimed financial education and training materials. Michael received a Master’s in psychology and administration from Cincinnati Christian University and a Bachelor’s in education from Ozark Christian College.
Taylor Spangler, MS
Taylor Spangler is an Adjunct Lecturer in the Family, Youth, and Community Sciences Department at the University of Florida, focusing on personal finance topics. She is also the state coordinator for the Florida Master Money Mentor Program, a UF/IFAS Extension volunteer financial mentoring program sponsored by a gift from Bank of America.
Kelly S. Steelman, PhD
Kelly S. Steelman is Assistant Professor in the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences at Michigan Tech University. Her research focuses on human attention and cognition, with an emphasis on helping people to find and use information in data-rich, technological environments. She completed her PhD in psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011.
Kevin Valentino, MS
Kevin Valentino is a graduate student studying financial planning at the University of Georgia. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Georgia and lives and works in Atlanta where he practices as a financial planner.
Thomas Warschauer, PhD, CFP®
Thomas Warschauer is Professor of Finance, Emeritus, at San Diego State University. He founded the first CFP Board registered financial planning degree programs. He was formerly on the CFP Board of Examiners, was the first president of the Academy of Financial Services, and is Associate Editor of the Financial Services Review.
Ann Woodyard, PhD, CFP®
Ann Woodyard is Assistant Professor in the Department of Financial Planning, Housing, and Consumer Economics at the University of Georgia where she is the program director for the online Master’s program. She holds degrees from Kansas State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include financial knowledge, gender issues in financial planning, and the role of philanthropy in personal wellness.
Dave Yeske, DBA, CFP®
Dave Yeske, DBA, CFP®, is Managing Director at Yeske Buie and a past chair of the Financial Planning Association. Dave received FPA’s Heart of Financial Planning award in 2012. He earned a BS in applied economics and an MA in economics from the University of San Francisco, and a DBA from Golden Gate University, where he holds an appointment as Distinguished Adjunct Professor in the Ageno School of Business. Dave co-teaches GGU’s capstone cases course with frequent co-author Elissa Buie.
PART One
Introduction
Part One outlines much of the theoretical content of financial planning, exploring what the practitioner needs to know in order to effectively serve the client. Each of the chapters focuses on one specific topic area of financial planning, allowing the reader to use this book as a reference either throughout a given program of study or throughout practice.
The connections diagram at the beginning of Part One chapters provides a visual representation of how a particular topic relates to the content areas in financial planning. A short paragraph below each of the diagrams provides a general analysis of many of the main connections relative to a given topic. For example, a given topic may have specific connections to three or four content areas across the discipline of financial planning.
Students and faculty are encouraged to use these diagrams to facilitate dialogue in the classroom or online learning platform regarding how the particular subject area impacts others across the curriculum. Faculty may consider going around the different illuminated topic areas, discussing specific instances or circumstances where these content areas are related. Faculty teaching within a financial planning program may find it beneficial to review many of these diagrams with the objective of making explicit connections across the curriculum. Whether students are new to financial planning or have years of experience, providing key examples of how content areas are interrelated can help further the student's understanding of key concepts within financial planning practice. With regard to practice, given the diversity of positions within financial planning, practitioners are encouraged to use this connections diagram as a reminder of the interrelatedness of financial planning content areas.
The opening of each chapter provides an overview of the topic as well as historical background of the topic. This overview is meant to provide a basis for how this topic sits within personal financial planning. The content in this area is not meant to replace the specifics that come from a standard textbook. Rather, it is designed to provide a framework for the topic relative to financial planning practice.
Each of the chapters in Part One of this book contains a section devoted to student-centered learning objectives. These objectives are designed to outline what the student should be able to do relative to the particular chapter topic. Practitioners are encouraged to examine each of these outcomes to determine their own effectiveness relative to the topic area. Whether working in the field of personal financial planning or a related discipline, practitioners can benefit from a better understanding of their own effectiveness relative to these important concepts in personal financial planning. It may be that if the practitioner self-identifies areas of specific weakness in these objectives, he or she may decide to enroll in a continuing education program that can assist in improving efficacy relative to this topic.
The In Class sections of Chapters 2 through 70 note the learning experiences and assessment possibilities for facilitating higher-order cognitive thinking in the financial planning classroom. These tables should assist faculty in developing class activities and assessment avenues that further higher-order cognitive thinking in financial planning preparation programs. These charts are designed for all program types and delivery methods.
In this book, the professional practice capabilities are divided into three levels based on this Dreyfus model – entry-level, competent, and expert – each of which illustrates the financial planning professional's ability
