MSE’s Academy of Money
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Contents

  • Introduction and guidance
    • What is a badged course?
    • How to get a badge
  • Introduction
  • 1 What is your financial personality?
  • 2 The social influences on spending
  • 3 Your habits could impair your spending choices
    • 3.1 The preference for bringing forward financial rewards and for delaying outlays
    • 3.2 The preference for simplicity over best value
    • 3.3 Not evaluating the evidence properly when buying things
    • 3.4 Putting off the decision can be a (bad) decision
  • 4 Your personality can seriously affect your spending
  • 5 Understanding the marketing forces that can affect our spending
  • 6 A decision-making model to take control of spending decisions
  • 7 Half-time quiz
  • 8 Why do we buy insurance?
  • 9 Applying Steps 1 and 2 of the decision-making model to insurance
  • 10 Applying Steps 3 and 4 of the decision-making model to insurance
  • 11 Mobile phones and insurance
  • 12 Shopping online
  • 13 Being a smarter online shopper
  • 14 End-of-session quiz
  • 15 Summary of Session 1
  • Introduction
  • 1 Income and taxation
  • 2 Understanding income tax
  • 3 National Insurance Contributions (NICs)
  • 4 Half-time quiz
  • 5 Understanding tax codes
    • 5.1 Do I need to make income tax returns?
  • 6 Why do I need to budget?
  • 7 The income side of the budget
  • 8 Turning to the spending side of the budget
  • 9 Building your budget
  • 10 Your own budget
  • 11 Trimming your spending
  • 12 End-of-session quiz
  • 13 Summary of Session 2
  • Introduction
  • 1 The boom of borrowing in the UK
  • 2 Good debt vs bad debt
  • 3 Credit reference agencies and your credit history
    • 3.1 How your credit history is compiled
    • 3.2 How to boost your credit worthiness
    • 3.3 Good tips to help your credit worthiness
  • 4 Half-time quiz
  • 5 Who are the lenders?
  • 6 The debt supermarket: get to know the products
  • 7 How much does it cost to borrow money?
    • 7.1 Annual Percentage Rate (APR): the key comparator for borrowing decisions
    • 7.2 Setting interest rates and the role of the Bank of England
  • 8 Low cost and high cost borrowing
  • 9 End-of-session quiz
  • 10 Summary of Session 3
  • Introduction
  • 1 Getting a mortgage: how much can I borrow?
    • 1.1 The property in question and the importance of ‘loan-to-value’
    • 1.2 Repayment or interest-only
    • 1.3 Fixed-rate or variable rate?
  • 2 Half-time quiz
  • 3 Mortgage choices: offset, flexible and portable mortgages
  • 4 Managing your mortgage: overpaying
    • 4.1 Moving to another deal
    • 4.2 Ditching a fixed-rate mortgage
  • 5 The other costs of buying a property
  • 6 Mortgages: understanding and managing the risks
  • 7 End-of-session quiz
  • 8 Summary of Session 4
  • Introduction
  • 1 Why should we save up for the future?
    • 1.1 The difference between saving and investing
  • 2 The UK’s savings problem
  • 3 The savings supermarket: What type of accounts can I get?
    • 3.1 What about Premium Bonds?
  • 4 The savings supermarket: Should you get an ISA?
    • 4.1 ISAs for your first home or your retirement
  • 5 The savings supermarket: Understanding interest and tax
  • 6 The savings supermarket: some final points
  • 7 Money in a savings account is almost always safe
  • 8 Drawing up your savings strategy
  • 9 Half-time quiz
  • 10 Investments – the riskier (but possibly rewarding) side of saving up
  • 11 Understanding shares
  • 12 Understanding bonds
  • 13 Understanding commodities
  • 14 Understanding property investment
  • 15 Understanding investment funds
  • 16 Investment strategies: how to manage your risk
  • 17 Understanding peer-to-peer products
  • 18 Do I need financial advice when choosing an investment or should I go it alone?
  • 19 End-of-session quiz
  • 20 Summary of Session 5
  • Introduction
  • 1 How does spending change in later life?
  • 2 State pensions
    • 2.1 How far does the state pension go?
  • 3 Occupational pension schemes
    • 3.1 Occupational schemes: moving to average salary pensions
    • 3.2 Occupational schemes: they work like a pay rise
  • 4 Half-time quiz
  • 5 Personal pensions: money purchase schemes
    • 5.1 Planning your pension: the costs and risks
  • 6 Understanding pension tax allowances
  • 7 What can I do with my pension when I retire?
  • 8 The 2015 pensions revolution: freeing up access to pension pots
  • 9 A shortfall in your pension plan – the options
  • 10 End-of-course quiz
  • 11 Summary of Session 6
  • Where next?
  • Tell us what you think
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

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