If I had a million dollars. Before taking a personal finance curriculum, I wrote a financial strategy saying I would use my million dollars to further my education. This would create a gateway to earning more money in life because I understand that a million dollars is not enough to last a lifetime. My goal is still very similar to what it was at the start of the quarter. However, I now have a much better understanding of how I plan to manage my money in the near future to prepare myself for the rest of my life. In the first chapter, I determined my SMART goals. Smart goals seem to be the starting point for any financial situation. In SMART goal building, you determine a specific goal, the reality of achieving it, and when it will happen. I have a much better understanding now of what my real goals are. My smart goal from the 6th quarter co-op is to save about 20% of my income to put towards the next quarter, because I waste so much money on little things. My spending analysis I did in Chapter 3 helped me realize that I was spending too much on wants rather than needs. It's actually quite upsetting when I think back on all the things I've spent money on that I thought were justifiable at the time, but actually weren't. Once we started calculating opportunity costs, I got really upset because I realized that taking a sick day to hang out with friends meant not only missing a day of work, but also spending money while I'm gone! Another goal I have set for myself is to prepare for my retirement. During Chapters 12 through 15, we covered investing. I've always been interested in stocks and bonds, but never knew how to apply it to real life. Playing the market game has helped me become familiar with how to quickly read the middle of the paper, be aware of situations that may arise, and even make sure I have a general policy to protect myself. of these abnormal accidents which would generally not be covered. Over the last 11 weeks or so, I have gotten answers to more questions than I can imagine. I've always wondered how the stock market works, how to invest for my future, the steps to take to buy something like a house or a vehicle, and so much more. Now that we've covered all of this information in class and even done projects to relate it to our daily lives, I have a much better understanding of how to become financially stable. Now I can't wait to apply all these useful tips to my life. Now, if someone gave me a million dollars, or if I won the lottery, I would actually have a very strategic plan to get the most out of it..