Personal Financial Planning with MindTap, 15th Edition

Randall S. Billingsley serves as a finance professor at VirginiaTech. 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.

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–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 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 to 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 also has contributed to the Handbook for Fixed Income Securities and to 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.