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    Personal Finance

    Reviewed by Jennifer Lehman, PhD student and associate instructor, Texas Tech University on 3/27/18

    Comprehensiveness rating: 5

    The text covers all relevant subject areas and has a good table of contents, with links provided to subsections within each chapter. If anything, the text is too much for some courses to cover in one semester - but as an instructor I would rather decide what to skip rather than not have enough content. I like that behavioral finance is included, and career information is included.

    Content Accuracy rating: 4

    For the most part, the book is accurate. However, I found a bad web link - P 13 Q 3 - here's the error message -
    The requested URL /od/moneybyageorlifestage/Money_and_Personal_Finance_by_Age_Life_Stage.htm was not found on this server. Also, federal estate tax numbers are still from 2009, and has significantly changed since then. I would either leave that part out or make sure someone updates it every year.

    Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

    Some of the comments here overlap with the one above. I found a web link that is no longer good, and estate tax numbers are out of date. Also, wills and trusts are talked about, but there's no mention of living wills or powers of attorney for financial and health care matters. Those things are relevant for everyone, and do not include numbers that would need updating.
    I like that there's a whole chapter on consumer strategies, including common scams and how to avoid them.
    Buying a car gets a section, and buying a home gets very thorough, well thought out coverage. I wish I would have had this resource when buying my first home.

    Clarity rating: 5

    The text is written in plain English in a matter that is easy to understand. Terms are defined and examples are provided. There are nice charts to organize some of the information. This aspect of the book is very well done.

    Consistency rating: 5

    Learning objectives are listed at the start of each section, then content, and finally key takeaways and exercises at the end of every section. The format is predictable and easy to follow. Also, as mentioned above, there's a table of contents. I don't see an index or glossary but I think needed information could be pinned down in this easy to follow format.

    Modularity rating: 5

    Each section within a chapter is fairly short. There are not enormous blocks of text. The flow is nice and modules could be easily assigned in different orders and without having to assign the entire chapter. This aspect of the text is very nicely done.

    Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

    The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion which is explained in the preface.

    Interface rating: 5

    Other than the one bad web link (I did not try every single one), I did not notice any interface issues. A few images were small and could be enlarged.

    Grammatical Errors rating: 5

    The text contains no grammatical errors.

    Cultural Relevance rating: 5

    I did not notice anything offensive in the text. A variety of examples are provided.

    Comments

    Overall, this book is well written and easy to follow. Thanks for making it available.

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