Assignment 3: Impact of Economics on Daily Living
Due: Week 10
Points: 105

Skill(s) Being Assessed: Problem Solving

Criteria for Success: In this assignment, you will:

• Create three monthly budgets using Excel for a financial analysis.
• Summarize the change in expenditures between budgets.
• Show the findings of your personal financial analysis using appropriate graphs/charts in Excel.
• Explain how the chosen graphs/charts help someone to better understand the presented financial data better than other potential graphs/charts.
• Discuss the results of financial analysis including overall progress towards saving goals, potential changes in budget that can be made in the future, possible economic/life impacts that may affect their budget in the coming year.
• Reflect on what your financial analysis might reasonably look like in a year taking into account income growth and inflation of consumer prices.

What to submit/deliverables: A completed Assignment 3 XLS Template and a completed Assignment 3 Financial Analysis Explanation Word Template.

What is the value of doing this assignment? One way to check your progress towards your financial goals is to conduct a personal financial analysis. This will help you see how well you have stayed on track with your finances over a period of time. Using technology can help you stay organized throughout your analysis, as well as help visualize financial data. Displaying the data visually will allow you to observe general trends in your personal finances and to communicate about them effectively.

For this assignment you will be using Excel as your technology tool to analyze personal financial data and display that data visually. There are many other technologies available for personal or professional use that can be used for this type of analysis. The approach to learning and working with Excel software in this course is one you can apply to other technology tools in your life and career.

Your goal for this assignment is to: Build your confidence and practice in the technology skill by conducting a personal financial analysis using a technology tool. You will use Excel to organize three monthly budgets, visualize this financial data using charts and graphs/charts, and discuss the results of your financial analysis, including progress towards your selected financial goal from Assignment 2.

Steps to complete: In Week 10, submit your assignment in BlackBoard by following these steps:

STEP 1:Read the following scenario and review the

Assignment 3 XLS Template.

Scenario: Three months have passed since you created your initial Financial Plan (from Assignment 2). A friend who is studying to become a financial advisor recommends that you check in on your progress towards your saving goal. She volunteers to help you conduct a financial analysis of your personal budget over three months. You meet with your friend each month to go over your analysis. In her studies she is learning that people understand budget concepts better when they are represented as visuals, so she asks you to create some.
In this assignment, you will make three monthly budgets. Your income increases each month, as shown in the tables in theAssignment 3 XLS Template. Additionally, in months 2 and 3, some cells have been filled in with a formula to represent an unexpected expense in that expenditure category for the month. You will need to reallocate your budget around this.

STEP 2: Use the Assignment 3 XLS Template and take the income and expenditures from Assignment 2 to use as your starting point for your Month 1 Budget.

Remember, that since this is a monthly budget, you will need to divide all of the values from your Assignment 2 annual plan by 12. After you have done this, you will notice that embedded formulas show that your income changes for months 2 and 3, because you received additional unexpected income from other sources.
You will also notice an increase in your “Healthcare” expenditure in Month 2 as the result of an unexpected medical emergency, as well as an increase in your “Miscellaneous” expenditures in Month 3 because of an unplanned for repair expense.

STEP 3: Fill in the cells of each monthly budget table to show how you would choose to allocate your income each month.

STEP 4: Use formulas to fill in the percentage columns for each monthly budget.

STEP 5: Create three appropriate graphs/charts (one for each month) in Excel to show the findings of your personal financial analysis. Each should show how you have allocated your income among the various categories.

STEP 6: Create a graph that shows your progress towards your savings goal across all three monthly budgets.

STEP 7: In the

Word template

, explain the reason why you chose the graphs/charts you did. How do the graphs/charts you created help someone understand the financial data?

STEP 8: Also in the Word template, discuss the results of your financial analysis including overall progress towards saving goals, potential changes in your budget that can be made in the future, and possible economic or life impacts that may affect your budget in the coming year.

STEP 9: Finally, in the Word template reflect on what your financial analysis might reasonably look like in a year taking into account income growth and inflation of consumer prices.

STEP 10: After completing all questions in the Assignment 3 XLS Template, save your responses as a Excel file titled: Your Name, ECO110_Assignment 3 Personal Financial Analysis and upload to BlackBoard in Week 10. Do the same thing with the Word template. Make sure to also review the scoring rubric before submitting.

Grading for this assignment will be based on the following rubric:

8/25/2020

https://blackboard.strayer.edu/webapps/rubric/do/course/manageRubrics?dispatch=view&context=course&rubricId=_828796_1&course_id=_266145_1 1/3

Assignment 3

Assignment 3: Personal Financial Analysis

Levels of Achievement

Criteria Exemplary100% A
Proficient
85% B Fair 75% C

Meets
Minimum
Expectations
65% D

Unacceptable
Below 60% F

ECO110-A3-1
1. Create three
monthly
budgets using
Excel for a
financial
analysis.

100.00 %
Creates three
monthly
budgets using
Excel for a
financial
analysis.
Each monthly
budget has
accurate
dollar figures
and
percentages.

85.00 %
Creates three
monthly
budgets using
Excel for a
financial
analysis. One
month may
contain errors
in dollar
figures and/or
percentages.

75.00 %
Creates three
monthly
budgets using
Excel for a
financial
analysis. Two
months may
contain errors
in dollar
figures and /or
percentages.

65.00 %
Creates three
monthly
budgets using
Excel for a
financial
analysis. All
months
contain
errors.

0.00 %
Did not create
three monthly
budgets using
Excel for a
financial
analysis.

ECO110-A3-2
2. Show the
findings of
your personal
financial
analysis using
appropriate
graphs/charts
in Excel.

100.00 %
Shows the
findings of a
personal
financial
analysis using
appropriate
graphs/charts
in Excel. All
graphs/charts
contain
accurate
financial
information.
Includes
graphs/charts
related to
overall
monthly
expenditures,
as well as one
dedicated to
progress
towards
savings goal.

85.00 %
Shows the
findings of a
personal
financial
analysis using
appropriate
graphs/charts
in Excel. All
graphs/charts
contain
accurate
financial
information.
Includes
graphs/charts
related to
overall
monthly
expenditures.

75.00 %
Shows the
findings of a
personal
financial
analysis using
graphs/charts
in Excel.
Graphs/charts
contain
accurate
information,
but the
specific
graphs/charts
used are not
the most
appropriate
way to
communicate
the financial
information.

65.00 %
Shows the
findings of a
personal
financial
analysis using
graphs/charts
in Excel.
Graphs/charts
contain
inaccurate
information
and are not
appropriate
ways to
communicate
the financial
information.

0.00 %
Did not show
the findings of
your personal
financial
analysis using
appropriate
graphs/charts
in Excel.

Name

Description

Rubric Detail

Weight
20.00%

Weight
30.00%

8/25/2020 tempECO11010xsmith

https://blackboard.strayer.edu/webapps/rubric/do/course/manageRubrics?dispatch=view&context=course&rubricId=_828796_1&course_id=_266145_1 2/3

Levels of Achievement
Criteria Exemplary100% A
Proficient
85% B Fair 75% C
Meets
Minimum
Expectations
65% D
Unacceptable
Below 60% F

ECO110-A3-3
3. Explain how
the chosen
graphs/charts
help someone
to better
understand
the presented
financial data
better than
other potential
graphs/charts.

100.00 %
Explains how
the chosen
graphs/charts
help someone
to better
understand
the presented
financial data
better than
other potential
graphs/charts.
Notes specific
examples of
other types of
graphs/charts
that were
considered
and describes
why they are
not as
effective as
the
graphs/charts
chosen.

85.00 %
Explains how
the chosen
graphs/charts
help someone
to better
understand
the presented
financial data
better than
other potential
graphs/charts.

75.00 %
Explains how
the chosen
graphs/charts
help someone
to better
understand
the presented
financial data,
but does not
provide a
reason for
why the
graphs/charts
used are
better than
other choices.

65.00 %
Explains what
financial data
the
graphs/charts
present, but
does not
include how
the
graphs/charts
helps
someone to
better
understand
the
information.

0.00 %
Did not
explain what
financial data
the
graphs/charts
present.

ECO110-A3-4
4. Discuss the
results of
financial
analysis
including
overall
progress
towards
saving goals,
potential
changes in
budget that
can be made
in the future,
and possible
economic/life
impacts that
may affect
their budget in
the coming
year.

100.00 %
Discusses
results of
financial
analysis
including ALL
of the
following
components:
overall
progress
towards
saving goals,
potential
changes in
budget that
can be made
in the future,
and possible
economic/life
impacts that
may affect
future budget.

85.00 %
Discusses
results of
financial
analysis
including two
of the
following
components:
overall
progress
towards
saving goals,
potential
changes in
budget that
can be made
in the future,
and/or
possible
economic/life
impacts that
may affect
future budget.

75.00 %
Discusses
results of
financial
analysis
including one
of the
following
components:
overall
progress
towards
saving goals,
potential
changes in
budget that
can be made
in the future,
or possible
economic/life
impacts that
may affect
future budget.

65.00 %
Describes
results of a
financial
analysis in
general terms
only.

0.00 %
Did not
describe
results of a
financial
analysis.

Weight
20.00%
Weight
20.00%

8/25/2020 tempECO11010xsmith

https://blackboard.strayer.edu/webapps/rubric/do/course/manageRubrics?dispatch=view&context=course&rubricId=_828796_1&course_id=_266145_1 3/3

Levels of Achievement
Criteria Exemplary100% A
Proficient
85% B Fair 75% C
Meets
Minimum
Expectations
65% D
Unacceptable
Below 60% F

ECO110-A3-5
5. Reflect on
what your
financial
analysis might
reasonably
look like in a
year taking
into account
income
growth and
inflation of
consumer
prices.

100.00 %
Reflects on
what a
financial
analysis might
reasonably
look like in a
year taking
into account
income
growth and
inflation of
consumer
prices.
Identifies
specific
economic
trends and/or
how
unexpected
expenses
could be
accounted for
when
projecting.

85.00 %
Reflects on
what a
financial
analysis might
reasonably
look like in a
year taking
into account
income
growth and
inflation of
consumer
prices.

75.00 %
Describes
what a
financial
analysis might
reasonably
look like in a
year. It is
unclear if or
how income
growth and
inflation of
consumer
prices were
taken into
account.

65.00 %
Describes a
future
financial
analysis but
its relation to
the current
financial
analysis is
unclear. It is
unclear if or
how income
growth and
inflation of
consumer
prices were
taken into
account.

0.00 %
Did not
describe a
future
financial
analysis.

Weight
10.00%