TOPIC 1 planning decisions

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Prime Meridian Bank (PMB) was founded on a culture of client relationships driven by purpose: “Banking Done Right, Right Away." Our five core values (Passion - Grace – Integrity – Tenacity - Accountability) support our actions and guide decisions. FSU grad Sammie D. Dixon, Jr. was part of the management team and Board that formed Prime Meridian Bank in 2008. The Bank serves clients in the Tallahassee and Lakeland/Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), including in North and Central Florida as well as South Georgia and South Alabama. The Bank currently has four Florida locations: two in Tallahassee, Florida, one in Crawfordville, Florida, and one in Lakeland, Florida.

The bank offers its Personal Financial Statement to assist with your planning.

professor penny

About one in five people in the United States collects Social Security benefits each month, according to the National Academy of Social Insurance. Though Social Security benefits provide some income to employees after they leave the workforce, you’ll probably need additional funds to lead a comfortable retirement.

Learning goals

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

List the key questions for retirement planning
Determine how to estimate your future retirement account savings

section outline

Topic 1 Planning Decisions

Content Videos

The Gus A. Stavros Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Economic Education at Florida State University is pleased to offer these resources. They were created by Teaching Professor Joe Calhoun.

The captions were created by a computer program so sometimes they may be inaccurate or contain spelling or grammatical errors.

You may alternate the views by clicking on the white icon on the top-right corner of the screen.

The videos should not be downloaded or distributed beyond this site.

Part a

Part b

This video is from Mark Dunaway titled "Own Your Future- Financial Freedom, Planning and Implementation."

key point

Yesterday was the best time to start saving for retirement. Starting early can make tremendous differences in retirement income.

Coach Chris

Chris Hogan is the author of two #1 national best-selling books: Everyday Millionaires (2019) and Retire Inspired: It's Not an Age; It's a Financial Number (2016). While visiting Florida State University in 2023, he made a presentation to students. This segment is about career choices.

Certified peer mentors

Mentors give presentations to groups about our topics. They also assist other students in personal finance matters and answer questions during individual meetings. To schedule a presentation or an appointment to discuss your situation email coss-financialpeermentor@fsu.edu or visit the Stavros Center financial wellness page.

a topical story

Jayla unlocked her door and walked into her dorm after what had felt like the longest day of the semester. After finishing two tests and a group project, she was excited to lay in bed and do absolutely nothing. As she walked in, Madison was at her desk, nose buried in her computer.

“What are you up to?” Jayla asked, slamming her bag down and throwing herself onto her bed.

“Not much, just looking through my retirement stuff. Trying to work on my plan.”

“Woah, woah, woah, retirement?” Jayla asked, astonished that was even being talked about right now.

“Yeah, nothing major. I just wanted to start thinking about it sooner rather than later. That way, when I get a job out of college, I can start to put money aside and such.”

“It just sounds really complicated. Retirement is so far away.”

“It is far, but it’s not too complicated. You really just have to ask yourself what kind of lifestyle you want to have then, and how you can make that a possibility while maintaining your current lifestyle. It’s so personalized--all about what your goals are and where you’re at right now. It’s different for everyone.”

“But why now? We seem so young.” Jayla asked, perplexed as to why she had to be so proactive. She knew Madison was a planner, but wow.

“Well, you have to think about what the size of your family will be, prepare for any sort of health needs, taxes, current retirement age and what the cost of living could go up to in all those years.”

“Oh, true. That’s pretty cool. I like that there aren’t a bunch of rules.” Jayla said, feeling much less stressed than when Madison first said the word “retirement.”

“For sure. From what I’ve learned, there’s only two rules; your retirement annual income should be 70-80% of pre-retirement annual income and your savings should be 10 to 12 times pre-retirement income. But like I said, we have some time before we really start to think about it.”

“Thank goodness because I am so tired right now, the only thing that sounds better than actual retirement is some pizza and Netflix.” Jayla said, grabbing her wallet. “But I really don’t feel like walking down to the dining hall.”

“Come on! Walk with me while you can--soon enough we’ll be old ladies with canes!”

(Story created by Jasmine George, Ana Siqueira, Courtney Swanson and Alex Thompson)

related books

These books have a chapter directly related to this topic. Please read them for more details.

Chapter 10: Ramsey, Dave. Dave Ramsey's Complete Guide To Money. Ramsey Press, 2012.

Chapter 6: Hogan, Chris. Retire Inspired: It's Not an Age, It's a Financial Number. Ramsey Press, 2016.

Chapter 4: Bach, David. The Automatic Millionaire, Expanded and Updated: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich. Crown Publishing Group, 2016.

Chapter 6: Orman, Suze. The Road to Wealth. Penguin Publishing Group, 2010.

Chapter 16: Lowry, Erin. Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By And Get Your Financial Life Together. Penguin Publishing Group, 2017.

additional resources

https://www.thebalance.com/prepare-for-retirement-success-2894361

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP4zWCS4dMM

https://www.annuity.org/financial-literacy/

other books

Malkiel, Burton. A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing. W. W. Norton & Company, 2020.

Wood, William. Getting a Grip on Your Money: A Plain & Simple Christian Guide to Managing Personal Finances, Eliminating Debt, Spending, Saving & Giving, Investing for the Future. Intervarsity Press, 2002.

Bach, David. Smart Women Finish Rich, Expanded and Updated. Currency, 2018.

Bogle, John. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns. Wiley, 2017.

Clason, George. The Richest man in Babylon. Dauphin Publications Inc., 2018.

Hill, Napoleon; Arthur R. Pell. Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century. TarcherPerigee, 2005.

Lynch, Peter; John Rothchild. Beating the street. Simon & Schuster, 1994.

Kobliner, Beth. Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties. Simon & Schuster, 2017.

Orman, Suze. The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying. Currency, 2006.

Bach, David; John David Mann. The Latte Factor: Why You Don't Have to Be Rich to Live Rich. Atria Books, 2019.

Hogan, Chris. Everyday Millionaires: How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Wealth―and How You Can Too. Ramsey Press, 2019.

important government sites

(Links to an external site.)Economy:

Bureau of Economic Analysis reports GDP, Income, International Trade, and many others (Links to an external site.)

Bureau of Labor Statistics reports Unemployment, Prices, Productivity, and many others (Links to an external site.)

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's mission is to maintain a strong economy and create economic and job opportunities (Links to an external site.)

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) continues to help small business owners and entrepreneurs pursue the American dream (Links to an external site.)

Banking:

The Federal Reserve System performs five functions to promote the effective operation of the U.S. economy (Links to an external site.)

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency created by Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system (Links to an external site.)

The National Credit Union Administration is an independent federal agency that insures deposits at federally insured credit unions (Links to an external site.)

Federal Regulation:

The Internal Revenue Service is the nation's tax collection agency and administers the Internal Revenue Code enacted by Congress (Links to an external site.)

The Federal Trade Commission protects consumers and competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices (Links to an external site.)

The mission of the SEC is to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation (Links to an external site.)

The CFPB is committed to providing consumers with up-to-date information and resources to protect and manage their finances (Links to an external site.)

(Links to an external site.)Other:

Social Security Administration (Links to an external site.)

Department of Education (Links to an external site.)

State of Florida

ECO 3041

ECO 3041 Personal Finance is a 3 credit hour course offered in-person and online each fall and spring semester. The purpose of the course is to provide you with the specific content knowledge of personal finance and to give you opportunities to start using that knowledge to create good habits, make better financial choices, and live a more fulfilling life. It covers material for all 33 topics listed here. See Professor Calhoun's most recent syllabus here. ECO_3041_SP21.pdf

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To schedule a presentation or an appointment with a certified peer mentor to discuss your situation email coss-financialpeermentor@fsu.edu or visit the Stavros Center financial wellness page.