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RUNNING HEAD: Financial Exploratory Project
Financial Exploratory Project
Jordan Gillis
Hyatt, BUS 305
November 23, 2015

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Financial Exploratory Project
Personal Finance App
When dealing with your finances you might find it helpful to use an App available on
your smart phone. You can download these apps in seconds and have all your financial
information on your screen with just a touch of a button. According to research, the financial
App Intuit (Mint) has many benefits. The App was designed by the creators of Turbo Tax and
Quick Books. It can pull all accounts and cards into one place so that you may track all of your
sending and your 401K. The app also gives you tips on how to save money; along with helping
you to create a budget. Some disadvantaged of this App are marginal compared to the benefits.
They consists of connection issues and being able to check multiple accounts, as well as; linking
new accounts when switching banks. The user interface is intuitive making it easy to use.
Taxes
In order to file for taxes and receive a tax return you have to make at least $6,100
annually. The criteria listed on the IRS website does not apply to my current financial status. My
parents claim me as a full time student dependent. They receive a tax write off when they
complete their taxes at the end of the year.
Budgeting
For this portion of the project for the month of October all expenses were written down.
Overall, a total of $422.47 was spent in the month of October. After reviewing these transition
one can conclude that money could be saved by eliminating the amount of money spent on eating
out. For the full month $46.65 was the amount of money spent on food. The biggest portion of
the budget was spent on gas. $96.48 was spent on gas during the month of October.

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Financial Exploratory Project
Credit Cards
According to research, the best 3 credit cards you could have are the Citi Diamond
Preferred Card, Citi Simplicity Card, and Blue Cash Preferred Card form American Express. As
stated on googles own credit cards comparison website, the Citi Diamond has 0% for 21 months,
APR variable after that of 11.99%-21.00% and you have to have a credit score of 740+ to apply.
The Citi Simplicity Card 0% APR on Balance Transfers and Purchases for 21 months. After that,
the variable APR will be 12.99% - 22.99% based on your creditworthiness. No late fees connect
with this card. For the American Express preferred card you can get 0% for 15 months and
12.99%-21.00% APR variable after that and you must have a credit score of 740+.
Buying Verses Leasing
A smart consumer never leases a car. A typical lease takes advantage of someone who
always wants the newest vehicle and wants to drive a vehicle that they truly cannot afford. A
lease can be taken as an emotional purchase that provide instant gratification verses an educated
decisions on what you can afford (budget), what you can maintain, and what you can insure. A
2015 Nissan Sentra SL was used to make a comparison between leasing and buying a car. This
car was selected because of the reliability, low operating cost (30+ miles per gallon), low
insurance rate (4 doors, 4 cylinders). If you were to lease the car with the value of $20,961 the
payments would be $189 a month, you would have to pay the taxes and have the first payment
amount up front. If you were to buy that same car you would have an estimated payment of
$331a month for a loan length of 60 months at 6.9% APR. A car is not an investment, it provides
you a service. Take into account reliability and maintenance. You want to make sure you are
getting the most value out of the car. Overall, buying a car is a better deal because you will own

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Financial Exploratory Project
the vehicle and even if your payments are higher it will pay off in the long run (Nissan
Towncenter, 2015).
Insurance
Using the car insurance provided by USAA for a 2010 Nissan, Sentra the quote stated
that the payments would be $150.99 per month with a $905.95 six-month premium. Because my
Father is a USMC veteran using USAA is an option for me to use. As a member of USAA you
can receive a dividend check at the end of the year for being accident free customer.
Buying a House
When buying a house it is typical for People to apply for a 15 year or 30 year mortgage.
According to USAA, as of November 23, 2015, a 15 year mortgage would have an interest rate
of 3.25%, with a 3.43% annual, and would not have any points. In comparison, Bank of America
rate is 3.125%, APR of 3.355%, and points of 0.335. For a 30 year mortgage with USAA the
interest rate is a little higher. “They start at 3.875%, with an annual of 4.870%, and 0.75 in
points” (USAA, 2015). Bank of America’s 30 year mortgage rate is, “4.000%, APR of 4.129%,
and points of 0.411” (Bank of America , 2015). USAA also has a flat rate of $685 that has to be
paid at closing. Bank of America has a fee that must be payed but it is not a flat rate fee. Their
fees all are based on the customer’s deposit relationship with the bank and their individual credit
score. Below is a chart that summarizes all the information above.
Company Rate APR Points Fees
USAA 15 year 3.25% 3.438% 0 $685

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Financial Exploratory Project
Bank of America
15 year
3.125% 3.355% 0.411 $988.81
USAA 30 Year 3.875% 4.870% 0.75 $685
Bank of America
30 year
4.00% 4.129% 0.335 $988.81
Appliances
Research was done by comparing the LG LFXS32766S 31.5 cu.ft. Mega-Capacity Door-
in-Door™ French Door Refrigerator between 3 different stores. These 3 stores are Lowes, Home
Depot, and Sears. According to the Lowes website, the refrigerator is listed at $3,599.00 (Lowes
, 2015). As listed on sears.com, the refrigerator is priced higher at $3,899.99 (Sears , 2015).
Home Depot has the refrigerator listed at $3,598.00 (Home Deport , 2015). After contacting all
three companies over the phone it was clear that Lowes offered the best deal. The reason Lowes
was chosen is that it would be cheaper due to the fact that Lowes offers a military discount on all
orders. Additionally, a recommendation would be to get a one month subscription to consumer
reports. You can do this online and look up there best picks based on reliability, value, and
features. They also have easy to read charts that have detailed competitive analysis.

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Financial Exploratory Project
Investments
There are some basic principles that are absolute when investing as an individual. First,
investing into the stock market is a long term process you need to be willing to be involved in for
at least 30 years. Second, investing can be high risk at first when you are younger because you
have time to make up for loses. When you are older and look at retirement you need to have low
risk investment because you cannot afford the losses anymore. Third, diversification is key to
spreading the risk. When you diversify you are managing your risk. If a stock crashes in your
mutual fun compared to just having a single stock investment it will only go down a minimal
amount, compared to losing everything you have. You need to find a subject matter expert to
give you finance advise. Look for a certified financial planner that charges a flat fee or hourly
rate and they are not on commission. Real estate is too high risk to be involved in and requires a
tremendous amount of working capital. Not taking advantage of a 401k plan through your
employer would be giving up free money if they have a matching program in place. For example,
at cox communications the company matches your investment with 40 cents on the dollar for
salaries up to 130k per year. For salaries over 130k the IRS has put a cap of 6% on investments.
To asset employees Cox offers a high end savings plan that yields an 8% return on investments.

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Financial Exploratory Project
If you make under $130,000 a Roth IRA would be a viable option to take part in. On the other
hand if you make over that amount go with IRA that you can differ your taxes.
Savings and Loans
Saving account are the worst place to put your money. The bank is using your money to
make money for themselves. The only reason you need to have a savings account is for an
emergency fund that should have up to 6 month of your annual salary.
When taking out a loan there are secured and unsecured loans. That means that you have
some sort of collateral involved with the loan. Typically, a car is used as collateral because it can
be repossessed if the payment are not payed. Being able to qualify for these you must take into
consideration how good your credit is.
Credit Report Error or Identity Theft
Identity theft is defined as, “The crime of obtaining the personal or financial information
of another person for the sole purpose of assuming that person's name or identity in order to
make transactions or purchases” (Investopedia , 2015). There are different form of identity theft;
such as, credit card theft, social security theft, government agency theft, and online theft. When
dealing with any of these types of theft one should take into these steps provided by
Identitytheft.gov, “Step 1: Call the companies where you know fraud occurred. Step 2: Place a
fraud alert and get your credit report. Step 3: Report identity theft to the FTC. Step 4: File a
report with your local police department.” (Federal Trade Commission , n.d.). You should

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always keep track of your spending and check accounts regularly to insure that all transitions are
yours. If done on a regular basis if something was to happen you would be able to catch it sooner
rather than later. Also, you should have alerts set up on your accounts. You can even have these
alerts set up to be sent to your cell phone via text message. You should take into account the
amount of cash you can withdraw per day and set limit to credit cards per day. Make sure that
your financial institution has some sort of tracking available to prevent fraud by identifying your
buying behavior. You need to be immediately notified if there are any purchases made outside
your normal buying patterns.
Utilities
The information below was taken directly from the Family Budget sheet created:
Phone Bill: Home Phone AT&T- $98 monthly/Cell Sprint- $171 monthly
Cable and internet bundled: Comcast-$123 monthly
Georgia Power: $250 monthly
Trash: Cycle Works- $42 monthly
Electric: Cobb EMC-$253 monthly
All of these Companies are what would be used to live on because they offer the lowest or best
deal for my family’s life style.

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Financial Exploratory Project
References
Bank of America . (2015, November 23). Home Loans. Retrieved from Bank of
America/Mortgages: https://www.bankofamerica.com/home-loans/overview.go
Erb, K. P. (2014, 01 26). Do You Need To File A Tax Return In 2014? Retrieved from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/01/26/do-you-need-to-file-a-tax-
return-in-2014/
Federal Trade Commission . (n.d.). What To Do Right Away. Retrieved from Recovering from
identity theft is easier with a plan: https://www.identitytheft.gov/
Home Deport . (2015, November 23). French door Refrigerator. Retrieved from
http://www.sears.com/lg-32-cu-ft-mega-capacity-door-in-door-8482/p-
04608453000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1
Investopedia . (2015, November 23). DICTIONARY DEFINITION. Retrieved from
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/identitytheft.asp?layout=infini
Lowes . (2015, November 23). French Door Refrigerator. Retrieved from
http://www.lowes.com/pd_617217-49317-
LFXS32766S___?Ntt=lg+lfxs32766s+31.5+cu.ft.+mega-capacity+door-in-
door%C3%A2%C2%84%C2%A2+french+door+refrigerator&UserSearch=lg+lfxs32766
s+31.5+cu.ft.+mega-capacity+door-in-
door%C3%A2%C2%84%C2%A2+french+door+refrigerat
Nissan Towncenter. (2015, November 23). Nissan Sentra SL 2015. Retrieved from
http://www.towncenternissan.com/new/Nissan/2015-Nissan-Sentra-
dad30e9c0a0a00de2156c8ac68bb3933.htm
Sears . (2015, November 23). French door Reftigerator . Retrieved from
http://www.sears.com/lg-32-cu-ft-mega-capacity-door-in-door-8482/p-
04608453000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1
USAA. (2015, November 23). USAA BANK HOME LOANS AND REAL ESTATE. Retrieved
from https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/bank_loan_mortgages_product?akredirect=true