| Course | BUSI 489 Capstone in Financial Planning (BUSI489) |
|---|---|
| Credit hours | 3 |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Length | 8 Module/Weeks, online |
| Weeks with written work | 8 of 8 |
| Samples on this site | 8 week sample papers |
| Sources | Liberty's 2026-2027 catalog and the published BUSI 489 course guide |
| Updated | October 2026 |
What BUSI 489 covers
Grable, Klock and Lytton's The Case Approach to Financial Planning supplies the case and most of the reading, and Lytton, Grable and Klock's The Process of Financial Planning supplies the planning process and its standards, with presentations each week.
Each Targeted Financial Plan covers one or more planning areas for the textbook's hypothetical case, and all six are revised and joined into the Comprehensive Financial Plan due in Module/Week 8 with a PowerPoint written for the client. The six mini-cases are short textbook exercises that the samples here do not reproduce.
This course will allow the student to create a written financial plan using the knowledge acquired from previous course work in the financial planning classes. The student will use a software package to incorporate all the elements of a successful financial plan for a case study client.
BUSI 489 week by week, with the sample for each
| Week | Written work in the course guide | Points | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Targeted Financial Plan 1 (Course Requirements Checklist, Class Introductions and Mini-Case Assignment 1 also due) | 100 | Read the Week 1 sample |
| Week 2 | Targeted Financial Plan 2 (Mini-Case Assignment 2 also due) | 100 | Read the Week 2 sample |
| Week 3 | Targeted Financial Plan 3 (Mini-Case Assignment 3 also due) | 100 | Read the Week 3 sample |
| Week 4 | Targeted Financial Plan 4 (Discussion Board Forum 1 also due) | 100 | Read the Week 4 sample |
| Week 5 | Targeted Financial Plan 5 (Mini-Case Assignment 4 also due) | 100 | Read the Week 5 sample |
| Week 6 | Targeted Financial Plan 6 (Mini-Case Assignment 5 also due) | 100 | Read the Week 6 sample |
| Week 7 | Discussion Board Forum 2 (Mini-Case Assignment 6 also due) | 50 | Read the Week 7 sample |
| Week 8 | Comprehensive Financial Plan (Financial Plan Presentation also due) | 100 | Read the Week 8 sample |
Where BUSI 489 papers lose points
BUSI 489 work loses points when plans list products without tying them to the client's goals, when figures in one section contradict another, when recommendations lack an amount, a timeline and a reason, and when the comprehensive plan pastes the targeted plans together without reconciling cash flow across all recommendations.
Using a BUSI 489 sample well
The samples draw on research about financial literacy and fragility, retirement plan defaults and automatic escalation, naive diversification, trading costs, active management, asset location between taxable and tax-deferred accounts, life insurance gaps, long-term care insurance, retirement saving adequacy and drawdown, and transfers to children, with Scripture.
BUSI 489 questions, answered
What is a Targeted Financial Plan in BUSI 489?
One of six 100-point plan sections, written for the textbook's hypothetical client, each covering one or more planning areas and later combined into the Comprehensive Financial Plan.
How long are BUSI 489 forum posts?
Threads are at least 300 words and each of two replies at least 200, and every post must draw on both personal experience and course material such as the books, articles and presentations.
What textbooks does BUSI 489 use?
Grable et al.'s The Case Approach to Financial Planning, which supplies the case client, and Lytton et al.'s The Process of Financial Planning, which supplies the planning process.
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