Personal finance
Personal finance is the financial management which an individual or a family unit performs to budget, save, and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events. When planning personal finances, the individual would consider the suitability to his or her needs of a range of banking products (checking, savings accounts, credit cards and consumer loans) or investment in private equity, (companies' shares, bonds, mutual funds) and insurance (life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance) products or participation and monitoring of and- or employer-sponsored retirement plans, social security benefits, and income tax  management. History. Before a specialty in personal finance was developed, various disciplines which are closely related to it, such as family economics, and consumer economics were taught in various colleges as part of home economics for over 100 years. The earliest known research in personal finance was done in 1920 by Hazel Kyrk. Her dissertation at University of Chicago laid the foundation of consumer economics and family economics. Margaret Reid, a professor of Home Economics at the same university, is recognized as one of the pioneers in the study of consumer behavior and Household behavior. In 1947, Herbert A. Simon , a Nobel laureate, suggested that a decision-maker did not always make the best financial decision because of limited educational resources and personal inclinations. In 2009, Dan Ariely suggested the 2008 financial crisis showed that human beings do not always make rational financial decisions, and the market is not necessarily self-regulating and corrective of any imbalances in the economy. Therefore, personal finance education is needed to help an individual or a family make rational financial decisions throughout their life. Before 1990, mainstream economists and business faculty paid little attention to personal finance. However, several American universities such as Brigham  Young University, Iowa State University, and San Francisco State University have started to offer financial educational programs in both undergraduate and graduate programs in the last 30 years. These institutions have published several works in journals such as "The Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning" and the "Journal of Personal Finance". Research into personal finance is based on several theories such as social exchange theory and andragogy (adult learning theory). Professional bodies such as American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences and the American Council on Consumer Interests started to play an important role in the development of this field  from the 1950s to 1970s. The establishment of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) in 1984 at Iowa State University and the Academy of Financial Services (AFS) in 1985 marked an important milestone in personal finance history. Attendances of the two societies mainly come from faculty and graduates from business and home economics colleges. AFCPE has since offered several certifications for professionals in this field such as Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC) and Certified Housing Counselors (CHC). Meanwhile, AFS cooperates with Certified Financial Planner (CFP Board). As the concerns about consumers' financial capability have increased in recent years , a variety of education programs have emerged, catering to a broad audience or to a specific group of people such as youth and women. The educational programs are frequently known as "financial literacy". However, there was no standardized curriculum for personal finance education until after the 2008 financial crisis. The United States President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability was set up in 2008 in order to encourage financial literacy among the American people. It also stressed the importance of developing a standard in the field of financial education. Personal finance principles. Personal circumstances differ considerably, with respect to patterns  of income, wealth, and consumption needs. Tax and finance laws also differ from country to country, and market conditions vary geographically and over time. This means that advice appropriate for one person might not be appropriate for another. A financial advisor can offer personalized advice in complicated situations and for high-wealth individuals, but University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack and personal finance writer Helaine Olen argue that in the United States good personal finance advice boils down to a few simple points: The limits stated by laws may be different in each country; in any case personal finance should  not disregard correct behavioral principles: people should not develop attachment to the idea of money, morally reprehensible, and, when investing, should maintain the medium-long-term horizon avoiding hazards in the expected return of investment. Personal financial planning process. The key component of personal finance is financial planning, which is a dynamic process that requires regular monitoring and re-evaluation. In general, it involves five steps: Typical goals that most adults and young adults have are paying off credit card/student loan/housing/car loan debt, investing for retirement, investing for college costs for children, paying medical expenses. Need for  Personal Finance There is a great need for people to understand and take control of their personal finances. These are some of the overarching reasons for it; 1. No formal education for personal finance: Most countries have a formal education across most disciplines or areas of study. This illustrates the need to learn personal finance from an early stage, in order to differentiate between needs vs. wants and plan accordingly. 2. Shortened employable age: Over the years, with the advent of automation and changing needs; it has been witnessed across the globe that several jobs that require manual intervention, or  that are mechanical in nature are increasingly becoming redundant. These are some of the reasons why individuals should start planning for their retirement and systematically build on their retirement corpus, hence the need for personal finance. 3. Increased life expectancy: With the developments in healthcare, people today are living till a much older age than their forefathers. The average life expectancy have changed over the years and people even in developing economies are living much longer. The average life expectancy has gradually shifted from 60 to 81 and upwards. Increased life expectancy coupled with a shorter employable age reinforces the  need of having a large enough retirement corpus and the importance of personal finance. 4. Rising medical expenses: Medical expenses including cost of drugs, hospital admission care and charges, nursing care, specialized care, geriatric care have all seen an exponential rise over the years. Many of these medical expenses are not covered through the insurance policies that might either be private/individual insurance coverage or through federal or national insurance coverage. These reasons illustrate the need of having medical, accidental, critical illness, life coverage insurance for oneself and ones family as well as the need for emergency corpus; translating the  immense need for personal finance. Areas of focus. Key areas of personal financial planning, as suggested by the Financial Planning Standards Board, are: Education and tools. According to a survey done by Harris Interactive, 99% of the adults agreed that personal finance should be taught in schools. Financial authorities and the American federal government had offered free educational materials online to the public. However, according to a Bank of America poll, 42% of adults were discouraged while 28% of adults thought that personal finance is a difficult subject because of vast amount of information available online. As of 2015, 17  out of 50 states in the United States requires high school students to study personal finance before graduation. The effectiveness of financial education on general audience is controversial. For example, a study done by Bell, Gorin and Hogarth (2009) stated that those who undergo financial education were more likely to use a formal spending plan. Financially educated high school students are more likely to have a savings account with regular savings, fewer overdrafts and more likely to pay off their credit card balances. However, another study was done by Cole and Shastry (Harvard Business School, 2009) found that there were  no differences in saving behaviours of people in American states with financial literacy mandate enforced and the states without a literacy mandate. Kiplinger publishes magazines on personal finance.