UNIT 4 — TOUCHSTONE 4: Analyzing -/100

Your Personal Finances

You can submit this Touchstone when
   the previous Touchstone has been SUBMIT TOUCHSTONE
Ready Submitted Graded
scored.
 Currently, it takes about 2-4 business days for a Touchstone to be graded.

Touchstones are projects that illustrate your comprehension of the course material, help you refine skills,
and demonstrate application of knowledge. You can work on a Touchstone anytime, but you can't submit
it until you have completed the unit’s Challenges. Once you've submitted a Touchstone, it will be graded
and counted toward your final course score.

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 time. Using technology
can help you stay organized and help you visualize financial data, uncover trends, and effectively
communicate your findings.

Your goal for this Touchstone is to build your confidence with technology. Using Microsoft Excel, you will
organize three monthly budgets, visualize the data using graphs, and discuss the results. You’ll begin
with the budget you created in Excel in the Unit 2 Touchstone. There are many types of technologies
available for personal or professional use that can analyze and display personal financial data. Your
experience with Excel spreadsheets in this course is a skill you can apply to other technology tools in
your life and career. If you need a refresher on spreadsheets, review the tutorials in Unit 1, Challenge 3
of this course (Links are in Section D).

Touchstone 4: Analyzing Your Personal Finances

SCENARIO: Three months have passed since you created your first financial plan (i.e., the Unit 2
Touchstone). In that time, your budget has gone through some changes. The good news is that your
income has increased because of your strong performance at work. However, health care and
miscellaneous costs have gone up along with your earnings. You will need to reallocate your
monthly budget based on these changes to see how you’re progressing toward your original
savings goal.

While you appreciate numbers and figures, you also know that a strong financial analysis needs
visual information. As part of your progress check, you’ve committed to creating a set of graphs that
you can share with your financial advisor.

ASSIGNMENT: This assignment has two parts. In part 1, you will analyze personal finance data
 based on the scenario described above. You’ll use your problem solving and agility skills to balance
three monthly budgets, and you’ll use your technology skill to graph the spending allocations in
each of them. Finally, you’ll sharpen all three skills as you calculate and graph the progress you’re
making toward your original savings goal.

In part 2, you will answer reflection questions about the decisions you made, identify how to create
more savings opportunities, and make predictions about life and economic impacts that could
affect the future of your plan.

For this assignment, you will:

Create three monthly budgets and perform a personal financial analysis using Microsoft
Excel.
Summarize changes in expenditures between budgets.
Show the results of the analysis using appropriate graphs in Excel.
Explain how the graph types you have selected will help your financial advisor
understand the data.
Discuss the results of the financial analysis including savings achievements, future
budget modifications, and life impacts that could derail the budget in the coming year.
Reflect on what the analysis might reasonably look like in one year, accounting for
economic factors such as inflation and the consumer price index.

Download the Excel template below, which further breaks down the steps involved in this
assignment. You will return the completed template as your Touchstone submission.

 Assignment Template

In order to foster learning and growth, all work you submit must be newly written specifically for
this course. Any plagiarized or recycled work will result in a Plagiarism Detected alert. Review
Touchstones: Academic Integrity Guidelines for more about plagiarism and the Plagiarism
Detected alert. For guidance on the use of generative AI technology, review Ethical Standards
and Appropriate Use of AI.

A. Assignment Guidelines
DIRECTIONS: Refer to the lists below throughout the assignment. Do not submit your Touchstone until it
meets these guidelines.
1. Analyzing Your Personal Finances

❒ Have you populated the tables for Month 1, Month 2, and Month 3 with your budgeting
information?
❒ Have you verified that all amounts are displayed on a monthly (not annual) basis?
❒ Have you verified that the sum of your expenditures (including savings) equals your employment
income?
❒ Have you populated the Savings Progress table?
❒ Have you selected the most effective graph type for each of your data sets?
❒ Have you left all predetermined formulas intact?
2. Reflection Questions

❒ Have you directly answered each question that was asked?

❒ Have you provided sufficient evidence to support each of your answers?
❒ Have you made clear and logical connections between your conclusions and the data used in the
financial analysis?
❒ Have you leveraged content from the course tutorials about economic factors?
❒ Have you included sufficient detail in your answers?

B. Rubric

Advanced Proficient Acceptable Needs

(100%) (85%) (75%) Improvement
(50%)

Building Monthly All formulas are correct, Most formulas are Some formulas are Formulas were not
Budgets (P1S1-P1S3) income equals total correct, income equals correct, income equals used, income equals
(20 points) expenditures, total expenditures, total expenditures, total expenditures,
percentages are percentages are mostly percentages are nearly percentages are
Create balanced complete, and supplied complete, and supplied complete, and supplied incomplete, and
budgets for Month 1, data has been data has been data has been supplied data is
Month 2, and Month 3 integrated. All values integrated. Most values integrated. Over half of missing. Only some
using Excel’s formula are realistic, and all are realistic, and all the values are realistic, values are realistic, b
feature and supplied units are displayed. units are displayed. but not all units are all units are displayed
data. displayed.

Creating Visuals All graphs are Three to four graphs Two to three graphs One to two graphs a
(P1S4, P1S6) (20 representative of the are representative of are representative of representative of the
points) data tables and the the data tables and the the data tables and the data tables, but the
axes are correctly axes are correctly axes are correctly axes are not labeled.
Graph expenditures for labeled. The most labeled. The most labeled. The most The most effective
Month 1, Month 2, and effective graph type effective graph type effective graph type graph type was chos
Month 3, and graph the was chosen in all was chosen in three to was chosen in two to in one to two instanc
rate of savings over instances and four instances and three instances and and cumulative savin
these three months. cumulative savings cumulative savings cumulative savings shows an upward
shows an upward shows an upward shows an upward trend.
trend. trend. trend.
 Advanced Proficient Acceptable Needs
(100%) (85%) (75%) Improvement
(50%)

Measuring Savings All the values for All the values for Two to three of the One to two of the
Progress (P1Q3, monthly savings match monthly savings match values for monthly values for monthly
P1Q4) (15 points) their respective data their respective data savings match their savings match their
tables and monthly tables and monthly respective data tables respective data table
Populate the Savings shortages are fully shortages are mostly and monthly shortages but monthly shortage
Progress table with consistent with the consistent with the are mostly consistent are not consistent wi
savings per month, original savings goal. original savings goal. with the original the original savings
cumulative savings, Embedded formulas Embedded formulas savings goal. goal. Embedded
and monthly shortages. are present and are present and mostly Embedded formulas formulas are present
accurate. accurate. are present and but inaccurate.
somewhat accurate.

Choosing Graph Rationale for choosing Rationale for choosing Rationale for choosing Rationale for choosin
Types (P2Q1) (15 each graph type is each graph type is each graph type is each graph type is
points) thorough, evidence- mostly coherent, somewhat coherent somewhat coherent
based, and tightly somewhat evidence- and evidence-based, and evidence-based
Give reasons for the connected to the based, and largely but only loosely but no connections
graph types you tutorial content from connected to the connected to the have been made to t
selected for displaying the course. tutorial content from tutorial content from tutorial content from
expenditures and the the course. the course. the course.
savings rate. (150
words or less)

Analyzing Results Description of savings Description of savings Description of savings Description of saving
(P2Q2) 15 points) progress is exceptional, progress is well-written, progress is acceptably progress is acceptab
improvement plans are improvement plans are written, improvement written, improvemen
Explain the results of logical and attainable, logical and attainable, plans are logical and plans are logical but
your financial analysis and derailments are and derailments are mostly attainable, and not attainable, and
in terms of progress, closely tied to real- largely tied to real- derailments are only derailments are only
improvements, and world economic world economic loosely tied to real- loosely tied to real-
anticipated factors. factors. world economic world economic
derailments. (150 words factors. factors.
or less)

Anticipating The economic factors The economic factors The economic factors The economic factor
Economic Projections chosen are based on chosen are based on chosen are mostly chosen are loosely
(P2Q3) (15 points) reality and tightly reality and largely based on reality and based on reality and
connected to the connected to the sufficiently connected somewhat connected
Looking ahead one tutorial content from tutorial content from to the tutorial content to the tutorial conten
year, describe how the course. The one- the course. The one- from the course. The from the course. The
economic factors might year plan is described year plan is described one-year plan is one-year plan is
impact the financial clearly, is attainable, clearly, is attainable, described sufficiently, is described sufficiently
analysis and how you and is entirely logical and is mostly logical attainable, and is but is not attainable o
might plan for them. based on the economic based on the economic mostly logical based on logical, based on the
(150 words or less) factors described. factors described. the economic factors economic factors
described. described.

C. Requirements
The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:

Abide by the word count limits where applicable. No answer should exceed 150 words.
 Use a readable 11-point font.
All writing and data entries must be appropriate for an academic context.
Writing must be original and customized for this assignment.
Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
Submission must include your name and the date.
Include all the assignment components in a single file.
Acceptable file formats include .xls and .xlsx.

D. Additional Resources
The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment:

Spreadsheet Basics
Computing with Spreadsheets
Data Visualization

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