| CODE | HPN3022 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Financial Literacy and Entrapreneurship | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Health, Physical Education and Consumer Studies | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will focus mainly on financial literacy; that is, the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours required by all individuals to make sound financial decisions, based on personal circumstances, to maintain and improve financial well-being on a long-term basis. It will tackle the development of effective financial plans for different individual and family situations and lifestages. The increasing variety of payment, savings and investment schemes will be outlined and the need to plan and manage investments for short-term and long-term financial security including retirement will be discussed. Easily obtained credit facilities, as well as the pressures and influences leading to debt and the effect on different family members will be explored. The management and repayment of debts will also be discussed. Another focus of this study-unit will be basic entrepreneurial processes and skills. The main steps in setting up and running a small commercial or social enterprise business and the different funding opportunities, technical assistance and required financial reporting will be outlined. Students will also experience guided practice in developing a simple Business Plan. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to equip students with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours to be financially literate and successful in making sound financial decisions that will improve their personal quality of life, but also that of others they may interact with in the future on a personal or professional basis. It also aims at introducing students to the basic processes in entrepreneurship and setting up and running a small business. It will also offer guided practice in Business Plan development. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Define the elements of an effective personal/familial financial plan and budgeting based on different goals and sources of income and deductions/expenses; - Discuss, based on critical reflection, the role of emotions, attitudes, behaviour, social pressure and marketing in making financial decisions; - Explain how scarcity of financial resources affects wants and needs; - Outline the benefits and disadvantages of different saving and investment schemes available locally and overseas - Evaluate common types of insurance in relation to different household circumstances; - Analyse, based on case studies, the benefits of different banking services offered by local commercial banks; - Explain the role and functions of the Malta Stock Exchange, Malta Financial 福利在线免费 Authority and stockbrokers - Identify and define the types of financial risks, including inflation, deflation, and recession - Explore debt management and repayment schemes available locally - Describe the basic principles of entrepreneurship - Outline key processes involved in setting up and running a business and different sources of aid/support - Explain the basic elements of a Business Plan 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Interpret personal financial documents (e.g. bank statements, annual accounts reports) - Compare various sources of investment information (e.g. prospectuses, annual reports, financial publications, on-line information) and ways to buy/sell investments (e.g. stockbrokers, investment advisers, banks) - Design effective financial plans for individuals and families with different income levels and at different stages of the life cycle - Practice interpreting and/or completing different basic financial documents (e.g. Income Tax return, VAT return) - Practice developing a simple business plan for an original idea of their own. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Fillis, I., & Telford, N. (2020). Handbook of entrepreneurship and marketing. UK: Edward Elgar. (LIBRARY) - Goldsmith, E. (2022). Foundations of Family Resource Management (6th Edition). USA: Routledge - Goldsmith, E. (2021).Consumer Economics: Issues and Behaviors (4th Edition). USA: Routledg Available online: - Department of Social Security 鈥� Gemma: Know. Plan. Act.: https://gemma.gov.mt/ - Malta Enterprise. Business First Portal: https://www.businessfirst.com.mt/ - MFSA - Consumer Awareness: https://www.mfsa.mt/consumers/consumer-awareness/ |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Fieldwork and Independent Study | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Matthew Caruana Carmen Muscat |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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