Remember the old days of correspondence courses? You subscribed to a course, got regular workbooks every two weeks or every month, you studied the material, maybe did some homework, possibly sent it in and got your work reviewed. That was yesterday. Today the word is "interactive" as in interactive software.
Connaissance Technologies has developed The Personal Finance Course. Available on CD-ROM, this course is interactive software at its best. The Personal Finance Course takes you through an assessment of where you are financially today to establishing financial goals and helping you plan to achieve them.
Over a year in the making (Connaissance Technologies was founded in 1997 and this is its first product), the course is well conceived and executed. If you can encapsulate its strongest point in a word, the word is user-friendly. It is easy to install, easy to navigate, thoughtfully laid out, and concepts are explained in clear concise language. The course is also graphically interesting with moving icons and dissolves, and includes background music in places.
The brains behind this product are two dynamic women. Connaissance's President and CEO is Doris Kochanek who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts and a Masters of Mathematics in Computer Science. She was a founder of the National Film Board's Computer Animation Centre and her work there included producing the world's first 3-D IMAX film for Expo 86 in Vancouver. She has made notable contributions to high-end animation technology, special effects and editing.
The Vice-President of the company is Katherine Aziz CFP, a financial planner and a Vice-President at Kerr Financial Corporation. She has 20 years experience in the financial services industry. Both women have lectured in their fields at the university level.
The self-paced course was developed in association with Kerr Financial and it is clear that each of the principals brings different knowledge to bear on the finished product. Ms. Aziz the course content, and Ms. Kochanek the software design and functionality.
The course is laid out in modules organized into five parts. The first part is the introduction and breezes by in a flash. The second part is where the program gets interesting. It takes you step by step in calculating your net worth and cash flow. It concludes with a module on credit, how to use it wisely and how to avoid getting in over your head. It includes a discussion on bankruptcy.
The third part of the course, called "Where do you want to be and when?" takes you through six modules dealing with setting goals, the time value of money, mortgages, education, retirement planning and insurance & estate planning. The module on goal setting covers such things as how to set your goals and how to prioritize them. The section on the time value of money is an excellent introduction to the power of compounding.
The last two sections are "How do you get there?" which covers different investment strategies and taxes, and "How do you make it happen?" which looks at implementing your plans and choosing a financial planner.
The course is interactive throughout. In the personalized sections you fill in data to determine your net worth, debt load, cash flow and how you are doing in achieving your goals. The teaching segments include moving graphics, pop-up information, quizzes and reviews. You can stop at any point and the program will pick up where you left off the last time. You can use a program map to move ahead or back.
Like MYST, RIVEN and other large graphics extensive programs, this one takes the full attention of your computer. You cannot run it simultaneously with other programs. (Other programs can be idling in the background, but you won't be able to have other windows displayed while running the program.)
I've only had the opportunity to give it a quick overview, but I'm very impressed with what I've found so far. I'm looking forward to going through the program in detail over the next few months.
The program can be run from the CD-ROM with a minimal installation which takes up 13 MB of hard disk space. Full installation takes up 31 MB. A minimum 486 processor is required but a Pentium is recommended. You'll need a minimum of 8MB RAM. You'll also need 256 color display and a sound card.
The program is remarkably affordable at only $49.90 plus shipping and taxes. It is 100% Canadian and covers its topics from a Canadian perspective. It is also available in French. This is an interesting course and a valuable aid to financial planning. Visit the Connaissance website for ordering information.
The views and content expressed here have been provided by the author and not FPSC. This article is meant for informational purposes only and readers are encouraged to check with a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.
CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and are certification marks owned outside the U.S. by Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB). Financial Planners Standards Council is the marks licensing authority for the CFP marks in Canada, through agreement with FPSB.
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