Financial Literacy among University Graduates

Financial Literacy Project

It is essential to understand and use some of the financial skills effectively. This ability is referred to as financial literacy; it includes financial management on a personal level, investing, and budgeting. This type of literacy creates a foundation of a person\'s relationship with money, and it is a long journey that involves learning. Their steps in improving this financial literacy include learning various strategies for creating a budget. It also consists of the ability to track the expenses that one has, which are deducted from the salary. This assignment involves research concerning a starting salary after graduating. Then later, a budget will be developed based on the projected income. Finally, on reflection, a summary of the research and calculations of the budget will be provided.

The job location is in Miami, which is found in Florida. It is the place where I decided to settle after graduation. I am working for Brunswick Corporation, a consumer goods company located in Illinois, Florida, in the United States. I work there as a staff accountant at a Free Boat Club. Concerning salary information, per year, it is usually $54,000(Arianti, 2018). This means that the net salary will be exclusive of the taxes and other deductions in one month. It will account for 2/3 times of 54,000, which amounts to 36,000. When divided by twelve, it will give a net salary of $3,000, deducted from the taxes. This will help make the monthly budget, and the net pay will therefore be $3000, which means the other third, exclusive of the deductions, amounts to $1,500. This is the starting salary as licensed right now, and the credential of the area I will reside in is indicated above.

Additionally, the expenses will be represented in tabular and graph forms. It will help create a budget that will include; housing and living expenses like rent, maintenance, utility, food, loan payments for students, and transportation (Arianti, 2018). Also, the budget will include childcare if applicable, car loans, credit card, and other debts, savings on emergency, expenses on continuous medical, savings on retirement, long-term goal savings like purchasing a new home or a new car. Entertainment will be accounted for in discretionary spending like eating out, and the insurance category will also be accounted for in the budget. Therefore, the expenses will be calculated to be subtracted from the net amount, and the balance of each month will be identified. The results will then be displayed in a circle chart. The expenses have been arranged in order from the highest to the lowest. It is clear that living expenses and food are the most basic; hence, they take a higher percentage of the costs.

Table of Expenses

Expense

Amount in Dollars

Housing and living expenses

500

Food

400

Student loan payments

355

Transportation

200

Childcare

184

Credit Card or other debt

165

Car loans

158

Continuous medical expenses

125

Emergency savings

110

Retirement savings

100

Long term goal savings

95

Discretionary spending

83

Insurance

70

The total of the expenses as indicated in the table amounts to a total of $2 545 which means that I will save $455 of the two thirds in every month while in a whole year, it will be 455 multiplied by twelve, which gives $5,460 (Riitsalu & Murakas, 2019). This is because I do not intend on changing my job during this year. The other $1,500 will also remain untouched; hence, the budget will help me account for my salary in a good way. When the same information is represented in a graph, the interpretation of this budget will be viewed more admiringly. It is essential since it provides the crucial component that helps understand and identify patterns and trends. It also helps in the quick analysis of extensive data like in our case that includes a lot of expenses to be catered. In the end, the graphs help one in making decisions that are informed and predictions.

The following is a graph representing the expenses in an organized way that will help interpret data since many information and data will be displayed (Potrich & Vieira, 2018). It is a good way of making summaries about then trends and then patterns between the various variables. In our case, the spending with the salary will be analyzed, revealing the amount saved after the deductions of all the expenses. The best financial stability is then achieved; hence one can differentiate between paying bills and managing the budget. The research has also revealed that managing household finances requires skills, making financial literacy a core issue in a person\'s life.

Representation in a Circle Chart per Month

When reflecting on the research concerning this salary, the findings show that the major expenses are the necessities. It shows that it is necessary to prioritize these as expenses. The other result is that it is essential to make budgets that are entailed in financial literacy. In matters relating to money, it is wise to have a way in which one is supposed to spend the money. It is because salaries make up the highest portion of the budget relating to expenditure. It helps one stay on track throughout the year when managing the compensation. However, some adjustments can be made to make sure that some savings are made, and if the need arises, it should be attended to before the rest (Compen et al., 2019). Some savings are also to be made to use in the future for other personal purposes. It is also evident that the amount spent on expenses should be lower than the salary. That is why it is necessary to make these budgets within a person\'s projected income to avoid the costs of surpluses. Budgets are therefore essential tools in financial literacy. The current job I am serving is still the one I am budgeting for, so no further changes will be experienced, so the figures remain the same.