Assessment Description Refer to the Major Assignment 2 documents for details on completing the assignment. Prepare the written portion of this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA S

Please follow these instructions for Major Assignment 2. You will complete a write-up in Word and financial calculations in Excel; we provide templates for both. See the assignment rubric for details about how the assignment is scored.

As you look ahead to your post-college life, you have decided to plan financially. You feel confident that the financial literacy skills you have learned at GCU will help you achieve this.

For the Excel portion of this assignment, please complete the provided Excel template. There are tabs related to income, student loans, credit cards, and budgeting. Read all directions carefully; your score on this part depends on the accuracy of your entries, formulas, and formatting. (See the “Grading Sheet – Rubric” for a summary.)

As part of your financial calculations, you will develop the following:

1. An income projection using CPI data

2. A comparison of payments for subsidized and unsubsidized loans

3. A credit card payoff table

4. An annual budget.

The Excel template includes additional information to assist with these calculations. Please note that all aspects of this major assignment have been addressed in the Discussion Questions (DQs).

The following formulas, provided in Excel format, may help in completing the Excel part of the assignment:

Compound interest formula If an initial amount P grows at an annual rate r with n compounding periods per year, then the value A of that amount after t years is given by the formula

A = P*(1+r/n)^(n*t)

Future value of periodic payments (Savings Plan) If an amount P is contributed at the end of each of n periods per year for t years and the balance earns interest at an annual percentage rate of r, the total amount A accrued after t years is given by

A = P*((1+r/n)^(n*t) –1)/(r/n)

Loan payment formula The amount PMT that must be paid n times per year for t years to pay off a loan principal amount of P at an APR of r is given by

PMT = P*(r/n)/(1 – (1 + r/n)^(-n*t))

Inflation rate formula Given an old CPI value at one point and a new CPI value n years later, the n-year inflation rate IR is given by

IR = (new CPI – old CPI)/(old CPI) = (new CPI)/(old CPI) – 1

For the written portion of this assignment:

• Use the provided template.

• Set the Title, Name, Instructor's Name, etc.

• Leave the headings as is, and ensure your paragraphs are correctly formatted.

• Answer each numbered question in a separate paragraph.

• Please express your answers in clear, well-developed paragraphs that are suitable for college-level writing. Avoid responding in itemized lists. Additionally, ensure you carefully proofread your work for correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

• References should be formatted correctly.

What follows are the headings, along with the questions for each section. You also have a template document (Major Assignment 2 Write-up Template Online 20250317.docx) that you will use for your responses. The template has the same section headings as follows, but the questions are not present.

In this section, please answer the following questions:

1. Considering real-world expenses upon graduation, what careers in your program of study are likely to provide enough net income to cover these expenses? Here, you may want to give a broad estimate of your expected monthly or yearly expenses, along with a broad salary estimate. Remember also to think about the effect of taxes on your net income.
   

2. Under what conditions might not having enough income to cover expenses still work out all right in the longer run?

In this section, you must address the following questions:

1. Assume that you’re taking a student loan of $50,000 at an interest rate of 8%, and that you will start paying that loan back in 4 years. Explain why it will always be the case that if your loan is subsidized your loan payment will be lower than if your loan is unsubsidized, assuming that the interest rate in the unsubsidized case is the same and that interest accrues for the 4 years that you’re in school. (You’re welcome, but not required, to provide calculations to support your explanation.)
   

2. Now consider the case that the interest rate for the unsubsidized loan may be lower than the interest rate for the subsidized loan. Explain why the loan payment amount for the unsubsidized loan may now end up being lower than the loan payment amount for the subsidized loan. (Again, you may want to provide some calculations to support your explanation.)
   

3. Finally, consider both your personal student loan and student loan debt in general. How does student loan debt affect your personal spending and the global economy? (Use academic references to support your answer.)

In this section, you must address the following questions:

1. How can you use a credit card to build a positive credit history without accruing debt? (Use academic references to support your answer.)
   

2. What is the benefit of paying more than the minimum payment on a credit card loan?
   

3. Explain the difference between borrowing money from a credit card versus a loan such as a mortgage on a house.

In this section, you must address the following questions:

1. Considering people living in your community, identify three annual categories of expense that are the largest for this group, along with the approximate percentage of annual net income that each expense represents for a typical (median) household. (For example, is it housing, debt payments, medical expenses, etc.? Does housing take up 20% of net income, or 30%, or 50%?) After accounting for these three categories of expense, what percentage of net income remains?
   

2. If you have an unexpected expense of 20% of your net income, what adjustments could you make to your budget to absorb that expense within a year?
   

3. How do individual household budgets considered as a group affect community, state, and national services? For example, if everyone’s budget profile were to match your breakdown for question 1, how would that impact the choices made at a higher level by communities, states, and nationally?

In this section, you must address the following questions:

1. In what ways do charitable giving and volunteer service impact the global economy? (Use academic references to support your answer.)
   

2. In what ways do charitable giving and volunteer service have the same importance as savings, investing in retirement, and avoiding debt?
   

3. In what two ways does an understanding of Financial Literacy impact the goal of affording human value and dignity to all people?

In this section, you must address the following questions:

1. What impact will a basic understanding of Financial Literacy have on the next 20 years of your life?
   

2. What is the most important tip you could provide to someone about avoiding debt?

1. 1. 1. 1. You must support your claims and data with at least three scholarly sources formatted appropriately using APA or MLA style.

For example:

For a Book:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (Edition if applicable). Publisher.

For a Journal Article:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page numbers. https://doi.org/xxxx

For a Website:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of the webpage. Website Name. URL

For an AI Model (e.g., ChatGPT):

OpenAI. (Year). Title of the AI model (version) [Large language model]. Company Name. URL

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