Money and the ability to manage money affects all aspects of our lives. Therefore, Central Piedmont Community College is interested in your financial well-being in addition to helping meet your academic goals. To assist with navigating your finances, Central Piedmont Community College has prepared a financial literacy guide. Our hope is that this guide helps our students and members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community be better prepared to make sound financial decisions that will have a positive impact on your future.

This guide will help you understand topics related to personal finance, such as economics, debt management, saving and investing, and insurance and risk management. Understanding these ideas will help you plan for emergencies, create and manage a budget, and save and invest for retirement. Each unit will help you begin or continue your journey to becoming more financially savvy, no matter where you are on your path.

Other chapters in the guide include:

• taxes and their impact on your financial goals
• renting vs. buying a home
• buying vs. leasing a vehicle
• various types of insurance, such as life, automobile, homeowner, liability, health, long-term care, and disability
• stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
• retirement and estate planning

For those who want to delve deeper into financial literacy, the guide also offers a variety of resources to help you stay current on the local and national economic outlook, understand changing interest rates and monetary policy, and the effect of the government’s fiscal policies on your finances.

The guide follows the syllabus of the BUS 125 Personal Finance class, but everyone is welcome to use the resources provided.