Personal finance is the
financial management which an individual or a family unit performs to
budget, save, and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events. When planning personal finances, the individual would consider the suitability to his or her needs of a range of banking products (
checking,
savings accounts,
credit cards and consumer
loans) or investment (
stock market,
bonds,
mutual funds) and insurance (
life insurance,
health insurance,
disability insurance) products or participation and monitoring of individual- or employer-sponsored
retirement plans,
social security benefits, and
income tax management.