Unit 3: Personal Financial Management (PFM)
Topic 1: Spending choices and personal financial budgets
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
- use calculations to make spending choices;
- understand the benefits of shopping around;
- understand value for money and how to work out the impact of depreciation;
- understand the link between personal financial budgets and spending choices.
Topic 2: Understand who is who in the financial world
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
- define and explain the difference between banks and building societies;
- identify and briefly explain other providers;
- explain the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA);
- explain ethics within the financial services industry.
Topic 3: Understand the sources of personal financial protection
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
- understand the ability to pay for a financial product;
- appreciate what can go wrong that could affect the ability to pay;
- describe protection products for the financial consequences of sickness, redundancy and death;
- understand protection for deposits in a bank, savings, investments, poor financial advice and fraud;
- understand consumers' responsibilities, including 'buyer beware' (caveat emptor)
Topic 4: Know how financial difficulties can arise and understand their consequences
After completing this topic, you will be able to:
- list and explain the consequences of overspending and the costs;
- list and explain other events that might cause financial difficulties;
- list and explain some of the events that would make a provider think that a customer has financial difficulties;
- list and explain actions that a person might take if they are in financial difficulties;
- list and explain legal remedies that are available to a lender or an individual.