Subject Code & Title : MTPS500 Financial Planning
Assignment Type : Assessment 1
The purpose of this assessment item :
This assessment item is a practical, real world assessment task. It has been designed to assist you to putting the course content into practice to enable greater understanding, and also to increase your work-readiness if intending to pursue a career in financial planning. This assessment task is also designed to assist you to prepare for later financial planning courses, such as “Financial Planning, Construction and Review” in which you will be required to complete a full SOA, the next step in the financial planning process.
MTPS500 Financial Planning Assessment 1 – Griffith University Australia.

Your task [Overall – Parts A and B]
Based on the interview transcript ‘Jonathon – Initial Client Interview’ (below) you are required to prepare a detailed file note [recommendation to provide to para planner to prepare a statement of advice] using the templates provided on L@G.

As detailed below and on L@G, your assignment will be broken down into two parts, Part A and Part B, to enable you to receive feedback on your initial submission. Please refer to the submission section below and the specific Part A and Part B instructions for more information on what is required for each part.

Overall, your final submission (Part B) should include an overview of the interview with Jonathon, including his current situation, his goals and objectives and any issues raised; and then based on this information, your strategic recommendations that address how he should achieve these goals. These recommendations should include wealth creation (both inside and outside of superannuation), wealth protection (life insurance/s and health insurance {just the type of insurance not the quote for the premium}), estate planning and lifestyle recommendations.

In practice, your file note would most likely go to a para planner who would use the recommendations (and reasoning) given in your detailed file note to prepare a Statement of Advice (SOA) for Jonathon. However, you are not required to prepare a SOA (or strategy paper).

Please note that a standard SOA template generally contains generic information such as what is a managed fund, what is total and permanent disability insurance, etc. Accordingly, you are not required to include generic information such as this in your file note. Instead, the focus of your file note should be your strategy recommendations (and reasons why, etc.) as indicated in the Part A and Part B instructions.

Overall:
1.Your submission must be prepared using the relevant template provided on L@G;
2. Your submission is a detailed file note document only, as such you are NOT required to recommend specific investment products, superannuation products or insurance products other than products and information provided in the additional information work sheet;
3. The file note will have strategy recommendations to be submitted to a para planner to complete a SOA document for the client. All strategies to be recommended, advantages and disadvantages with the risks associated with the recommendations need to be in the detailed file note.
4. As illustrated in the templates and the example, please bullet point your responses. Please start a new bullet point for each separate point you make.

Marking :
It is important that you refer to the Part A and Part B Marking Rubrics (also in the Assessment folder on L@G) which detail the expected standards of each section of the file note.

The assessment is worth a total 70% of your final grade, that is, 10% for Part A and 60% for Part B. You will be advised of your mark via ‘My Marks’ on L@G.

Resources provided :
Please refer to L@G (Assessment folder) for the required templates for Part A and Part B and the detailed Part A and Part B instructions which provide more information on how to complete these. The Part A and Part B instructions also include answers to frequently asked questions as part of the Appendices.

You will also find several short videos to help you get started and to help clarify certain areas of the assignment; these include:

1.Assignment background: which contains further information regarding the purpose of the assignment and the rationale behind the assessment design.
2. Getting started: how to complete Part A: which goes through how you would complete Part A and some tips and tricks on completing your assignment.  
3. Investment choices: which goes through what you need to include in the wealth creation / lifestyle recommendations sections of your file note, including the level of detail required.
4. Future value calculations: which goes through how to complete the future value calculations, why these are required as part of your file note, and what you need to include in the Appendix to your file note.    
5. Getting started: how to complete Part B: which goes through how you would complete Part B and some common concerns to watch out for.

Individual or joint submission :
Students may complete the assignment (both Part A and Part B) individually or with another student. The choice is up to each student. Groups of three or more are not permitted.

If students choose to complete the assignment together, then each student will receive the same mark. The teaching team will not discuss any disputes or complaints from students asserting that one student did more work than the other, given working with another student is optional.

MTPS500 Financial Planning Assessment 1 – Griffith University Australia.

Accordingly, students should make sure that the person they choose to work with carries their responsibilities and completes their allocated tasks on time and to the desired standard.

Please note, students choosing to complete the assignment with another student must complete the group sign up process on L@G in order to see the joint assignment submission points. Please refer to the group sign up sheet on L@G for more information.

If you are completing the submission with another student, only one member of the group is required to submit the assignment, though both students will be able to see the submission, the marks and any feedback provided.

Submission :
Your Assignment will be submitted in two parts as follows:
Part A:  You are required to submit your intended wealth creation recommendations,together with lifestyle recommendations for feedback. This is worth 10% of your final grade. More details on Part A, including specific instructions, template and a marking rubric, are available on L@G.

Part B: You are required to submit your full file note [strategy recommendation] as detailed above. This is worth 60% of your final grade. Part B includes any wealth creation / lifestyle recommendations for Jonathon, which may or may not be the same as your Part A recommendations. Based on your feedback for Part A, you can chose to update / change your recommendations as desired.

All submissions must be submitted via the Blackboard Assignment submission point on L@G (within the assessment folder) and an electronic coversheet must also be completed. Further instructions on this are provided on L@G.

Finally, it is your responsibility to ensure you upload the correct file and the complete assignment is submitted by the due date. Please note you may submit your assessment item as many times as you like prior to the due date. Your final submission will be marked and count towards your final grade.

Academic integrity :
A reminder that the assignment is an individual or joint assessment item. Accordingly, please
ensure the file note is your own work, or the work of your group. Academic misconduct will
not be tolerated.

MTPS500 Financial Planning Assessment 1 – Griffith University Australia.

Academic misconduct includes plagiarism, which occurs when the work of another is represented, intentionally or unintentionally, as one’s own original work, without appropriate acknowledgement of the author or the source. Academic misconduct also includes copying ideas or concepts from other students, including both current and past students. There are severe penalties in place for those that breach the academic integrity provisions, both for the person sharing the information and for the person copying. Accordingly, if you wish to see if you are on the right track, we recommend you see the teaching team in our consultation hours, rather than discussing your specific assignment recommendations with other students. Additional information on academic integrity can be found on L@G, including the ‘academic
integrity student tutorial’. We strongly recommend you complete this before starting the assignment.

MTPS500 Financial Planning Assessment 1 – Griffith University Australia.

Tutoring on demand (Smarthinking)
Griffith University provides students with a 24/7 tutoring on demand service with expert online tutors via Smarthinking.This is a free service and enables you to get feedback on your writing in a variety of ways. We strongly encourage our students to use this service to ensure their writing is clear, concise and appropriate for the audience. For more information, please refer to the ‘tutoring on demand’ link on the left-hand menu of the course L@G site.

Jonathon – Initial Client Interview