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PFIN, 8th Edition

Randall Billingsley, Lawrence Gitman, Michael Joehnk

  • Copyright 2025
  • {{checkPublicationMessage('Published', '2024-02-13T00:00:00+0000')}}
Starting At $74.95 See pricing and ISBN options
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PFIN 8th Edition by Randall Billingsley/Lawrence Gitman/Michael Joehnk
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Overview

Billingsley/Gitman/Joehnk's PFIN, 8th Edition, uses practical and relatable examples of personal financial planning strategies, relating to students’ day-to-day lives. These include features like “Do It Now,” “Financial Impact of Personal Choices,” “Financial Planning Tips,” “Behavior Matters” and “Planning Over a Lifetime.” This edition presents students with essential decision-making frameworks and up-to-date information on key topics, including buying a home or car, setting up and maintaining a budget, handling student loans, insuring your life, health and property, investing to meet goals like retirement and doing your taxes. The latest tax information and financial market rates and data further strengthen this edition, while MindTap the online learning platform enhances students' financial understanding.

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Meet the Authors

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Randall Billingsley

Randall S. Billingsley serves as a finance professor at Virginia Tech. He earned his bachelor’s in economics from Texas Tech University and received his M.S. in economics and a Ph.D. in finance from Texas A&M University. Dr. Billingsley holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and Certified Rate of Return Analyst (CRRA) professional designations. An award-winning instructor at the undergraduate and graduate levels, his research, consulting and teaching focus on investment analysis and issues relevant to practicing financial advisors. Formerly a vice president at the Association for Investment Management and Research (now the CFA Institute), Dr. Billingsley published an equity valuation case study of Merck & Company that was assigned reading in the CFA curriculum for several years. In 2006, the Wharton School published his book, UNDERSTANDING ARBITRAGE: AN INTUITIVE APPROACH TO FINANCIAL ANALYSIS. In addition, his research has been published in refereed journals such as the Journal of Portfolio Management, the Journal of Banking and Finance, Financial Management, the Journal of Financial Research and the Journal of Futures Markets. Dr. Billingsley advises the Student-Managed Endowment for Educational Development (SEED) at Virginia Tech, which manages an equity portfolio of about $5 million on behalf of the Virginia Tech Foundation. To date, Dr. Billingsley’s consulting has focused on providing expert testimony on financial issues as well as helping investment professionals prepare for the CFA exams. Dr. Billingsley enjoys exploring and discussing the relationships among diverse areas of investment analysis as his consulting takes him throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.

Lawrence Gitman

Lawrence J. Gitman is an emeritus professor of finance at San Diego State University. He received his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, his M.B.A. from the University of Dayton and his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Gitman is a prolific textbook author with numerous best-selling books, and he has written more than 50 articles for various finance journals. An active member of numerous professional organizations, Dr. Gitman is past president of the Academy of Financial Services, the San Diego Chapter of the Financial Executives Institute, the Midwest Finance Association and the FMA National Honor Society. In addition, Dr. Gitman is a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®). He formerly served as a director on the CFP® Board of Governors in addition to functioning as vice-president of financial education for the Financial Management Association and as director of the San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum. Dr. Gitman has two grown children and lives with his wife in La Jolla, California, where he is an avid bicyclist.

Michael Joehnk

Michael D. Joehnk is an emeritus professor of finance at Arizona State University. In addition to his academic appointments at ASU, Dr. Joehnk spent a year as a visiting professor of finance at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Arizona and his M.B.A. from Arizona State University. A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), he served as a member of the Candidate Curriculum Committee and of the Council of Examiners of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts. He also served as a director of the Phoenix Society of Financial Analysts and as secretary-treasurer of the Western Finance Association. He was also elected for two terms as vice president of the Financial Management Association. In addition, Dr. Joehnk was the editor of Institutional Asset Allocation, which was sponsored by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts and published by Dow Jones-Irwin. He has contributed to the Handbook for Fixed Income Securities and Investing and Risk Management, Volume 1 of the Library of Investment Banking. In addition, Dr. Joehnk served a six-year term as executive co-editor of the Journal of Financial Research. He and his wife live in Flagstaff, Arizona, where they enjoy hiking and other activities in the surrounding areas.

What's New

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  • The “Working with a Financial Advisor,” feature is strategically integrated across the book. This helps to target the next steps in applying personal financial planning to students’ lives going forward. A new appendix on “Using Spreadsheets” has also been added. This illustrates how financial planning concepts may be applied using the data in the book and the personal financial data of students.

Features

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  • This edition has numerous features, relating personal finance to students’ day-to-day lives. These include “You Can Do It Now” on personal financial actions students can take now, “Financial Impact of Personal Choices” illustrating financial effects of key personal decisions and “Financial Planning Tips.” It presents students with decision-making frameworks and up-to-date information on key topics that include buying a home or car, setting up and maintaining a budget, handling student loans, insuring your life, health and property, investing to meet goals like retirement and doing your taxes.
  • This edition provides effective emphasis on decision-making frameworks and relevance to students’ day-to-day lives.
  • Solutions offer an engaging print textbook, tear-out review cards and an interactive online learning solution, all delivered and influenced by a deep understanding of student’s workflow and learning styles.
  • The “Behavior Matters” feature explores how our psychology affects our financial planning decisions for better or worse and how to take it into account to consistently make better decisions.
  • This edition allows students to see a road map of their financial futures. The “Planning Over a Lifetime" feature at the end of each chapter shows how the given financial tools allow them to best adapt to changes over a lifetime.
  • PFIN, 8e allows students to see a road map of their financial futures. The “Planning Over a Lifetime" feature at the end of each chapter shows how the given financial tools allow them to best adapt to changes over a lifetime.
  • Shorter, comprehensive chapters in a modern design present content in a more engaging and accessible format that increases the number of students who read the chapter without minimizing coverage for your course.

Table of Contents

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Part I: FOUNDATIONS OF FINANCIAL PLANNING.
1. Understanding the Financial Process.
2. Using Financial Statements and Budgets.
3. Preparing Your Taxes.
Part II: MANAGING BASIC ASSETS.
4. Managing Your Cash and Savings.
5. Making Automobile and Housing Decisions.
Part III: MANAGING CREDIT.
6. Using Credit.
7. Using Consumer Loans.
Part IV: MANAGING INSURANCE NEEDS.
8. Insuring Your Life.
9. Insuring Your Health.
10. Protecting Your Property.
Part V: MANAGING INVESTMENTS.
11. Investment Planning.
12. Investing in Stocks and Bonds.
13. Investing in Mutual Funds, ETFs, and Real Estate.
Part VI: RETIREMENT AND ESTATE PLANNING.
14. Planning for Retirement.
15. Preserving Your Estate.

Compare Buying Options

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MindTap Options

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MindTap
Each MindTap product offers the full, mobile-ready textbook combined with superior and proven learning tools at one affordable price. Students who purchase digital access can add a print option at any time when a print option is available for their course.

This Cengage solution can be seamlessly integrated into most Learning Management Systems (Blackboard, Brightspace by D2L, Canvas, Moodle, and more) but does require a different ISBN for access codes. Please work with your Cengage Learning Consultant to ensure the proper course set up and ordering information. For additional information, please visit the LMS Integration site.

Standalone Digital Access — Ultimate Value

Recommended and most popular

  • ISBN-10: 0357988051
  • ISBN-13: 9780357988053
  • RETAIL $99.95
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Textbook Only Options

Traditional eBook and Print Options

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  • ISBN-10: 0357988124
  • ISBN-13: 9780357988121
  • RETAIL $74.95

  • ISBN-10: 0357988043
  • ISBN-13: 9780357988046
  • RETAIL $131.95
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Students: Buy now

Supplements

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Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

FOR STUDENTS

MindTap for Billingsley/Gitman/Joehnk's PFIN, 1 term Instant Access

ISBN: 9780357988053
MindTap for Billingsley/Gitman/Joehnk's PFIN, 8th Edition, is the online learning platform that powers students from memorization to mastery. It gives you complete control of your course to provide engaging content, challenge every individual and build their confidence. Empower students to accelerate their progress with MindTap. MindTap: Powered by You. MindTap gives you complete ownership of your content and learning experience. Customize the interactive syllabi, emphasize the most important topics and add your own material or notes in the eBook.