Example syllabus only – exact content subject to change. Please see your instructor’s syllabus for the current term for your specific course’s guidelines
Spring 2026 (3 credits)
Updated: 1/26/2026
Class Location: Holdsworth Hall 203
Class Time: Tuesday & Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Course Email: [email protected]
Instructor
Professor Nathan W. Chan (he/him)
Email: [email protected]
Office hours: Weekly on Tuesdays, 2:30–3:30 p.m.
Office hours location (in-person): Stockbridge Hall 210
Teaching Assistants
Dan Ai (PhD student)
Office hours on HW deadline weeks: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Location (in-person): Stockbridge Hall 410
Vishakha Singh (Senior)
Office hours on HW deadline weeks: Thursdays, 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Location (Zoom): https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/94026352610
Communication (important!)
I will make class announcements using Canvas. Please make sure your account is activated.
Please use the course email address ([email protected]) to communicate with us. This is the best way to get a fast response. One of us will respond within one business day. Please feel free to contact us again if you have not received a response within this time frame.
If you would like to discuss something sensitive, please email the professor directly ([email protected]).
Course Purpose and Summary
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to fundamental finance, with a focus on its applications in consumer economics and the economics and management of small firms, distinct from corporate or public finance. Emphasizing problem-solving, we will learn to practically apply major financial concepts in real-life situations while also gaining a theoretical understanding.
The course covers interest rate theory and addresses contemporary economic issues impacting individuals, households, and small businesses. Topics include financial planning, consumer spending, credit and loans, taxation, saving and investing, insurance for health and wealth protection, and retirement security.
Prerequisites
ResEc 102 or Econ 103, and Math 127 or Math 131
Learning Goals
- To develop an understanding of the terms, concepts, and theories involved in personal, household finance, and entrepreneurial finance.
- To investigate individuals’ and families’ economic concerns and their awareness of the importance of financial planning for household and small business economic security.
- To identify and clarify the various factors that may influence personal and entrepreneurial financial management.
- To examine the sources of disparities in financial outcomes and to uncover hazards that students may face in financial management.
- To develop financial decision-making skills and enable students to apply theoretical knowledge in making informed choices in their personal and business finance.
- To enable students to solve various problems manually, independently and in groups, reducing reliance on calculators and computer-generated answers.
Departmental Learning Objectives & Experiential Goals
This course contributes to the following student learning objectives and experiential goals for undergraduate students in the Department of Resource Economics:
| Base of Learning | Relevant Course Component |
|---|---|
| #1: Understand and master microeconomics as a foundational theory. | Examination of individual, household, and firm decision-making |
| #2: Achieve proficiency in supporting disciplines, such as macroeconomics, mathematics, statistics, and finance. | Financial concepts covered in the course |
| #3: Acquire a broad knowledge in related fields in order to be well-versed in current economic and policy issues. | Lectures, videos |
| #4: Communicate effectively: orally, in writing, and using current digital and multimedia technologies. | In-class group exercises, written homework exercises |
| #5: Integrate theoretical principles with quantitative techniques to promote decision-making. | Lectures, videos, homework, groupwork, exams |
| #6: Synthesize, analyze, evaluate, and generate effective solutions to evolving problems in their respective fields and personal lives. | Homework, groupwork, exams |
| Life-Long Learning | Relevant Course Component |
|---|---|
| #1: Consistently foster safe, fair, open, and diverse professional and social environments. | Classroom environment, videos and lecture content examining disparities in financial outcomes |
| #2: Continually integrate new knowledge gained from a variety of sources, with ability to discern the quality of the source, in order to make well-informed decisions. | Videos and lecture content, exercises testing applications of financial knowledge in homework assignments and groupwork |
| Experiential Goals | Relevant Course Component |
|---|---|
| #1: Enhance teamwork/collaborative skills through group work, activities, assignments, etc. | Group-based in-class exercises and teamwork on homework assignments |
| #2: Experience active learning strategies: flipped classrooms, debate, field trips, economic experiments and games, presentations, student-response system | Feedback through Google Forms |
| #4: Conduct independent and group research. | Financial research in homework assignments |
Assessment and Grading
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Class Participation | 10% |
| Homework | 40% |
| Midterm Exam | 25% |
| Final Exam | 25% |
Grading Scale
Grades may be curved upward if deemed necessary by the instructor.
| Percentage | 93 | 90 | 87 | 83 | 80 | 77 | 73 | 70 | 67 | 60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade | A | A- | B+ | B | B- | C+ | C | C- | D+ | D |
Class Participation
You will get the most out of the course if you attend class and come prepared, having completed the assigned readings and videos and ready to discuss your thoughts. We will sometimes cover material in class that will not be covered in the readings and videos, so coming to class is important to learning the course material that will be tested in homework assignments and on exams.
For each class meeting, I will either take attendance, have you submit an in-class activity, or both. You will get participation credit for the day if you are present and submit the in-class activity; you will not get participation credit for the day if you do neither of those things. If you attend but do not actively engage with the in-class activity, then you may receive partial participation credit.
I understand that there may be a variety of barriers affecting students’ ability to participate in every class session. Therefore, I will give 3 “free passes” for class participation. Each free pass gives you a waiver for missing one class session, for whatever reason. You do not need to notify me about using a free pass or to explain your absence to me—I will automatically drop your 3 lowest participation grades at the end of the semester. Please use your free passes wisely. I generally do not give extra free passes, so any additional absences will count against your participation grade. In my experience, 3 free passes is ample for most students who need to miss occasional classes for things like unexpected illness, job interviews, family obligations, travel, etc.
There are a few special cases where a student may be given additional free passes. This includes things like religious holidays and university-sponsored sporting events. Note that such absences are typically foreseeable, so it is your responsibility to let us know by emailing [email protected] within the first two weeks of the semester. If you have extenuating circumstances (e.g., long-term illness), please let me know as promptly as you can and provide documentation (e.g., a doctor’s note describing the need for extended absence from the class), and I will work with you to provide proper accommodations.
Homework Assignments
The goal of the homework assignments is to help you to understand the concepts and calculations taught in class and prepare you for the exams. Therefore, you are expected to show how you got to your answers and are expected to work on these problems without the help of any artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Some homework questions will be similar to exam questions, which makes completing the homework helpful preparation for exams.
You are encouraged to work in groups (of up to 3 people) on the homework assignments. If you are interested in working in a group but are not sure how to find a group, please email us ([email protected]) and we will connect you with others in the class.
Homework should be submitted via Canvas by 9:00 p.m. on the due date for each assignment, with an automatic “grace period” until 11:59 p.m. Late submissions after 11:59 p.m. will automatically receive a penalty of 20% for each day late.
You will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit homework assignments up to one week after your initial submission is returned to you for partial credit (up to 50% of points missed on initial submission, but any points lost due to late submission cannot be regained).
Midterm Exam
The midterm exam will test your understanding of topics up to and including annuities on the syllabus. It will include a combination of conceptual questions and calculation questions designed to reflect real-world decisions.
The course will build on topics covered in the midterm exam. Therefore, it is very important that you do not fall behind at this stage of the course. Please reach out to the instructors as early as possible if you feel like you will have difficulty with the midterm exam.
Final Exam
The final exam will cover topics from the entire course. Like the midterm exam, it will test a combination of conceptual and calculation questions oriented towards real-world challenges.
Important Dates
Homework 1 due: Tuesday, February 12 (by 9:00 p.m.)
Homework 2 due: Thursday, February 26 (by 9:00 p.m.)
Midterm Exam: Tuesday, March 10 (in class)
Homework 3 due: Thursday, April 9 (by 9:00 p.m.)
Homework 4 due: Thursday, April 23 (by 9:00 p.m.)
Final Exam: Wednesday, May 13 (10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)
Course Overview
| Class number and date | Questions/topics | How to prepare | Reminders |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1: Th 1/29 | What is finance? What are the goals of this course? | Complete pre-course survey, review syllabus | |
| 2: T 2/3 | Math review: fractions, percentages, exponents, logarithms | Refresh your math skills for fractions, percentages, exponents, and logarithms | |
| 3: Th 2/5 | Math review: probability, expected value | Watch: Expected Value Explained Intuitively | Complete pre-course survey if you haven’t already |
| 4: T 2/10 | Time value of money; What is inflation? | Watch: Inflation and Deflation Watch: How Gen Z Ended Up in So Much Debt Watch: How the Consumer-Price Index Measures Inflation | |
| 5: Th 2/12 | Interest rates: what are the different kinds? | Watch: How does raising interest rates control inflation? | Homework 1 due by 9:00 p.m. |
| 6: T 2/17 | Simple interest: how to calculate | ||
| Th 2/19 | No class | Monday schedule | |
| 7: T 2/24 | Compound interest: how to calculate | ||
| 8: Th 2/26 | Compound interest: applications and importance | Watch: Compound Interest Explained in One Minute | Homework 2 due by 9:00 p.m. |
| 9: T 3/3 | Annuities | ||
| 10: Th 3/5 | Midterm review | Come prepared with your questions about the course material up to this point | |
| 11: T 3/10 | Midterm exam in class | Practice solving problems and go over class slides | |
| 12: Th 3/12 | Credit and loans: the good and the bad | Watch: The Big Problem with Credit Scores Watch: Who Actually Pays for Your Credit Card Rewards Watch: How Buy Now Pay Later Makes Billions from Free Loans | |
| T 3/17 | No class | Spring Break | |
| Th 3/19 | No class | Spring Break | |
| 13: T 3/24 | Credit and loans: payment logistics | ||
| 14: Th 3/26 | Understanding and managing taxes | Watch: How the rich avoid paying taxes | |
| 15: T 3/31 | Financing a home: mortgage debt | ||
| 16: Th 4/2 | No class | Prof. Chan away | |
| 17: T 4/7 | Auto financing and leasing: how to compare different options | ||
| 18: Th 4/9 | What is financial risk? | Watch: Types of financial risks | Homework 3 due by 9:00 p.m. |
| 19: T 4/14 | Comparing financial risk and reward | ||
| 20: Th 4/16 | Protecting against risks: the role of insurance | Watch: Insurance Fundamentals Watch: What is moral hazard? | |
| 21: T 4/21 | Health insurance | Watch: Health insurance explained | |
| 22: Th 4/23 | Saving and retirement planning | Watch: The New Rules of Building Wealth Watch: Retirement Plans | Homework 4 due by 9:00 p.m. |
| 23: T 4/28 | Financial investments: stocks and bonds, active vs. passive investing | Read: The Stock Market Is Getting Scary. Here’s What You Should Do. Watch: Explained | The Stock Market | |
| 24: Th 4/30 | Alternative financial investments; tax strategies | Watch: Crypto Scams Watch: Tax-Loss Harvesting | Thanksgiving break starts at end of day |
| 25: T 5/5 | TBD | ||
| 26: Th 5/7 | Final exam review | Come prepared with your questions about course content | The final exam covers all course material |
| W 5/13 | Final exam (10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) | Practice solving problems and go over class slides | Location: Holdsworth Hall 203 |
This tentative course schedule may be updated as the semester progresses.
Office Hours
Meeting with the course instructors is important so that we can appropriately support you throughout the course. Even if you do not have specific needs, questions or concerns, we encourage you to meet with each of us at least once during office hours this semester. If our weekly office hours times do not work or you would prefer to meet over Zoom, please email our course inbox ([email protected]) to request an alternative time.
AI Use Policy
This course assumes that all work submitted by students will be generated by the students themselves, working individually or in groups. Students should not have another person/entity do the writing of any substantive portion of an assignment for them, which includes hiring a person or a company to write assignments and using artificial intelligence tools like Copilot, ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The assignments in this class are designed to support your learning and development of critical thinking skills. The use of AI may limit your success in meeting the course learning outcomes.
Inclusive Learning & Diversity
Your success in this class is important to us. We all learn differently and bring different perspectives and needs to the class. If there are aspects of the course that prevent you from learning or make you feel excluded, please let us know as soon as possible. This course aims to support the needs of students with different identities, backgrounds, and experiences. We ask that you help foster inclusion through your words and actions, to hold one another accountable, and to consult with us if you have any questions or concerns, or suggestions for how we can improve our teaching methods.
Academic Alerts
We have partnered with Student Success and your academic advisors to assist you on your path to success. Throughout the semester, we will communicate with Student Success & academic advisors regarding your progress in the course. If you are contacted, please consider scheduling appointments such as tutoring or academic advising and with me. Referrals are not punitive and are meant to assist you in connecting with resources at UMass. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions or need assistance connecting with resources.
Academic Integrity Statement
UMass Amherst is strongly committed to academic integrity, which is defined as completing all academic work without cheating, lying, stealing, or receiving unauthorized assistance from any other person, or using any source of information not appropriately authorized or attributed. As a community, we hold each other accountable and support each other’s knowledge and understanding of academic integrity. Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University and includes but is not limited to: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, lying, and facilitating dishonesty, via analogue and digital means. Sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed or participated in an academic integrity infraction. Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed an academic integrity infraction should bring such information to the attention of the appropriate course instructor as soon as possible. All students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have read and acknowledged the Commitment to Academic Integrity and are knowingly responsible for completing all work with integrity and in accordance with the policy: https://www.umass.edu/senate/book/academic-regulations-academic-integrity-policy
Accommodation Statement
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability on file with Disability Services (DS), you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed in this course. If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify me within the first two weeks of the semester so that we may make appropriate arrangements. For further information, please visit Disability Services: https://www.umass.edu/disability/
Title IX Statement
In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits gender-based discrimination in educational settings that receive federal funds, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing a safe learning environment for all students, free from all forms of discrimination, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and retaliation. This includes interactions in person or online through digital platforms and social media. Title IX also protects against discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, or related conditions, including recovery. There are resources here on campus to support you. A summary of the available Title IX resources (confidential and non-confidential) can be found at the following link: https://www.umass.edu/titleix/resources. You do not need to make a formal report to access them. If you need immediate support, you are not alone. Free and confidential support is available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week / 365 days a year at the SASA Hotline: 413-545-0800
Copyright and Sharing of Material
As a student in this course, you will have access to relevant materials, including but not limited to, homework and exam questions and solutions, lecture slides, and this syllabus. These materials are protected by U.S. copyright laws and by university policy. I am the exclusive owner of the copyright in materials I create.
You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own use in this class. You may also share those materials with another student who is registered and enrolled in this course.
You may NOT reproduce, distribute, upload, or display any lecture notes or recordings or course materials in any other way — whether or not a fee is charged — without my express written consent. If you do so, you may be subject to disciplinary action under the UMass Code of Student Conduct.
Similarly, you own the copyright to your assignment and exam submissions. If I am interested in posting your answers on the course web site, I will ask for your written permission.