School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Financial Planning
  • Unit Code

    ECF3208
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Mr Damon BROWN

Description

This unit equips students with knowledge in personal financial decision-making planning and the provision of personal financial advice. The focus is on the role and obligations of the financial planner; identification of the regulatory, investment, budgeting and personal advisory issues in financial planning; understanding the role of taxation in financial planning, the importance of superannuation and estate planning; the process of planning for retirement within the Australian context; purpose and structure of the self-managed superannuation funds; and the structure and regulation of the superannuation industry. The financial principles of the time value of money and risk and return are developed and applied.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must have passed ECF1120

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Identify the obligations of personal financial advice providers, including an ethical consideration.
  2. Analyse the current financial status and future wealth goals for various client scenarios, considering ethical and socially responsible behaviour.
  3. Evaluate the potential risks and returns likely to impact an investment portfolio for a client.
  4. Apply principles of taxation and superannuation to develop a financial plan.
  5. Use innovative and creative ideas when designing and critically evaluating financial plans, adhering to regulatory requirements, budgeting, and personal advisory matters.

Unit Content

  1. Revision of financial calculation basics and taxation
  2. Asset allocation, investment choices, direct investing and managed funds
  3. Superannuation and superannuation strategies
  4. Financial planning profession and generation of statement of advice
  5. Retirement planning
  6. Self managed superannuation funds
  7. Leveraged investments, annuities and investment bonds
  8. Insurance
  9. Social security and estate planning

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 213 x 3 hour seminarNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Additional Learning Experience Information

Students will have an opportunity to participate in sessions with current Financial Planning advisors, applying the assignment cases to real case situations. Also, students may need to utilise financial market databases to access data in real-time and/or to conduct appropriate research for assessment tasks.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
Case StudyCase study assessment30%
AssignmentIndividual research assignment30%
ExerciseShort answer assessment40%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
Case StudyCase study assessment30%
AssignmentIndividual research assignment30%
ExerciseShort answer assessment40%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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