Young people face unprecedented financial challenges‎:‎ rising student debt‎,‎ stiff competition for jobs‎,‎ barriers to home ownership‎,‎ dwindling state benefits and prospects of a longer working life‎.‎ Today‎,‎ students need financial knowledge and skills more than ever before‎,‎ not just to build their own financial security‎,‎ but to create the new generation of advisers that can help all citizens navigate the complex world of personal finance‎.‎ Essential Personal Finance is a guide to all the key areas of personal finance‎:‎ budgeting‎,‎ managing debt‎,‎ savings and investments‎,‎ insurance‎,‎ securing a home and laying the foundations for retirement‎.‎ It also provides an introduction to some of the essential foundations of a modern undergraduate finance qualification‎,‎ including‎:‎ * The nature of financial institutions‎,‎ markets and economic policy that shape the opportunities and decisions that individuals face‎.‎ * The range of financial assets available to households‎,‎ the risk‎-return trade‎-off‎,‎ basics of portfolio construction and impact of tax‎.‎ * The importance of the efficient market hypothesis and modern portfolio theory in shaping investment strat‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎