Page 559 - Introduction to Business

CHAPTER 15 Personal Financial Planning 533

Personal Balance Sheet (Exhibit 15.1)
Personal Goals (Exhibit 15.2)
Cash Flow Budget (Exhibit 15.4)
Bank Reconciliation Statement (Exhibit 15.7)
By creating your own financial planning reports, you can customize them to
your individual needs. For example, you can add or delete items to the example of
a personal balance sheet previously provided. You may even wish to type your
checkbook register into a spreadsheet file to facilitate computing the current bal-
ance in your account.
Whether you choose to create your own report forms using a spreadsheet pro-
gram or to use a personal financial planning program, a computerized approach to
financial planning offers several advantages over a manual approach.
Calculations are rapidly and accurately made.
Reports can be efficiently prepared and printed.
Updates and changes can be easily made.
Computerized applications facilitate what-if analysis.
Computer software can help you gain control of your finances by improving
record keeping and facilitating report preparation, such as a personal balance sheet
preparation. But buying a computer and software won’t solve all your financial
problems. You still have to stick to your budget, whether it is prepared using pencil
and paper or using computer software and printer. E*Trade offers a variety of financial
planning resources on its website.
Web Resources

Many websites are available to assist you with
financial planning. A dozen of the most useful
sites are briefly described below.
Bank of America (http://www.bankofamer-
ica.com) is one of the largest financial institu-
tions in the United States. Its website provides
online banking services, and an entire area of the
website is devoted to personal finance. The per-
sonal finance page has links to resources like
mortgage solutions, retirement planning, home
equity loans, and credit card debt. Bank of Amer-
ica’s website is massive and has a wealth of infor-
mation related to financial planning.
Century 21 (http://www.century21.com) is
one of the country’s top real estate corporations.
Reprinted with permission of E*Trade Financial
The Century 21 website is geared toward provid-
ing information about purchasing and selling a home. Features of this website
include an online mortgage application, an office locator, and many tips on how to
handle the transactions of buying or selling a home.
CNBC (http://www.cnbc.com) is a major financial news network on television.
Its website tracks all of the important financial and headline news of the day and
has many user-friendly features. Some of these features are a personalized portfo-
lio tracker, stock quotes, investment research material, and many links to other
financial websites.
E*Trade (http://www.etrade.com) is one of the largest online investing services
available on the Web. E*Trade’s Portfolio Manager lets you create portfolios for all
the investments you want to track, whether you hold them at E*Trade or else-

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