Personal Finance - Open Textbook Library (2024)

(19 reviews)

Rachel Siegel, Lyndon State University

Carol Yacht, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee

Copyright Year:2009

ISBN 13:9780982361863

Publisher:Saylor Foundation

Language:English

Reviewed by Christina Wooten, Business Technology Faculty, Rogue Community College on 11/15/23

The text is, in general, comprehensive. It is divided into six sections that cover basic (beginning) personal finance, purchasing, protection, wealth building, and career planning. There is no glossary or index with the text. There are also not...read more

Reviewed by Kevin Flint, Instructor, James Madison University on 10/17/23

The book does not provide a comprehensive index of glossary, a list of key terms at the beginning of each chapter, etc. In looking at the contents, the text most of the appropriate areas of personal finance. The depth into some of the topics was...read more

Reviewed by Samira Hussein, Professor, Business Administration, Johnson County Community College on 5/30/22

I did not see an index or glossary, but in terms of a comprehensive structure, the book is well structured. I liked the "themes" in each of the 5 sections of the book. Some of the chapters were very brief. Instead of the details provided in each...read more

Reviewed by Lisa Parrott, Assistant Professor Business Administration, Johnson County Community College on 5/16/22

This book provides an extensive overview of personal finance topics. Chapters range from two to six segments and include learning objectives, key takeaways, and exercises for each segment. This makes some chapters feel rather long, but the writing...read more

Reviewed by Ana Claudia Sant'Anna, Assistant Professor, West Virginia University on 4/25/22

Very comprehensive. Topics range from how economic factors affect financial decisions to financial statements and investment decisions to job search and career paths. If you plan on using this textbook for a more senior level undergraduate class,...read more

Reviewed by Ben Cuellar, Instructor of Business, Dodge City Community College on 1/29/22

The text does provide a comprehensive and in-depth description of all the major topics relating to personal finance which are normally discussed in a typical textbook about the subject. The authors do a great job of providing definitions within...read more

Reviewed by Fang Lin, Associate Professor of Finance, Pittsburg State University on 12/15/21

The book covers a wide range of topics related to personal finance.read more

Reviewed by Barbara Bliss, Associate Professor of Finance, University of San Diego on 3/17/21

The book could be updated to reflect new changes in the tax law. Some of the descriptions are very short, like the section on closing costs of a home, or how to calculate your monthly payment.read more

Reviewed by Dr. Renee Dyer, Assistant Professor of Business Finance, Limestone University on 8/18/20

The text covers all necessary components of personal finance. The text flows in a cohesive manner that should make the student experience more fulfilling.read more

Reviewed by Kim Vierra, Instructor, Oregon State University on 8/4/20

This book covers everything that I cover in my personal finance and financial planning courses, with one additional chapter related to careers, which is an interesting addition. I would have liked to see a section dedicated to paying for college....read more

Reviewed by Aaron Henrichsen, Assistant Professor of Finance, University of Northern Colorado on 12/13/19

The important areas of personal finance are covered, though in some cases they are covered more extensively than a beginning personal finance book maybe ought to. I saw no glossary or index.read more

Reviewed by Darren Kraemer, Adjunct Instructor, Fletcher Technical Community College on 4/24/19

This text is the most comprehensive on this subject matter as any text I've seen to date. It contains more than enough of what is needed to cover a comprehensive course on personal finance. In this case, more is always better as any teacher would...read more

Reviewed by Christina Glenn, Adjunct Instructor, Fort Hays State University on 11/22/18

This is by far the most comprehensive personal finance text I have evaluated! While it does not have an index or glossary, definitions are clearly defined within chapters, and the table of contents is detailed enough to find the topic you are...read more

Reviewed by Jennifer Lehman, PhD student and associate instructor, Texas Tech University on 3/27/18

The text covers all relevant subject areas and has a good table of contents, with links provided to subsections within each chapter. If anything, the text is too much for some courses to cover in one semester - but as an instructor I would rather...read more

Reviewed by Vaughan Briggs, Associate Professor of Finance, Central Oregon Community College on 8/15/17

This text covers all the requisite material that you would find in other texts sold by the major publishers. As mentioned in other reviews, the .pdf version of the text does not have a table of contents, but the online version does. You can get...read more

Reviewed by Amber Lamadrid, Instructor, Portland Community College on 6/20/17

The text is extremely comprehensive, including topics that would be relevant to both younger students just starting out with Personal Finance, as well as topics relevant to the older student who has some Personal Finance experience. in this...read more

Reviewed by Chengping Zhang, Associate Professor of Finance, George Fox University on 2/15/17

This book covers a decent spectrum of topics in personal finance and financial planning, such as time value of money, risk, budgeting, tax planning, retirement planning, estate planning, insurance, investing, career planning, etc. The topics are...read more

Reviewed by Ronalld Shapiro, Assistant Professor , Rutgers Business School on 2/8/17

The book covers a wide range of topics in the analysis and theory of personal finance. The book consists of 18 chapters and covers all relevant topics including financial statements, budgeting, risk management, investing in stocks, bonds and real...read more

Reviewed by Walter Lambert, Adjunct, Metropolitan State University on 8/21/16

The book introduces and explains essentially all of the topical material found in most commercial texts or trade books dealing with a first overview of personal finance. The implied audience is anyone needing a professional introduction to the...read more