My Desire to Pursue a Ph.d. in Personal Financial Planning

My grandfather was a public employee with a fixed, regular income and he always wanted to make something big out of his money. Moreover, he used to read different articles related to stocks, portfolio management and other financial opportunities where he could do some investment to create multiple sources of income. As I grew up watching my grandfather invest his time and income, I understood earning and learning process did not have an end. People are always looking ways to save, invest and grow their earnings, but it is not a piece of cake for everyone. I am interested in learning how the practical significance of modern financial theory can be practiced and how I can use different tools to conduct theoretical and applied research in this field. In order to achieve my long-term goal of teaching and conducting research, I want to pursue Ph. D. in Personal Financial Planning. I will be graduating in May 2019 with M. S. in Finance from University of Nevada, Reno.

My background in finance has helped me to develop my quantitative, analytical and communicative skills. For instance, under Research Methods in Finance, I performed different analysis using SAS based on monthly data from Dec. 1997-Dec. 2017 for ordinary common shares traded on NYSE. Positive correlation of betas with the stock returns in the US stock market, Fama and French three factor model, difference in performance between the value and growth investing in the U. S. stock market were the analysis that I performed for my project. Likewise, I had to write an article for my Real Estate Finance class with the group of people and we chose the topic “Relationships Between Student Loan Debt and Homeownership Amongst Millennials in the United States and China”. We collected data and performed regression analysis for this article. I believe this kind of analysis, with many other practical skills and training that I gained through my classes, have prepared me in research and theoretical aspects of finance. Currently, I am working as a Graduate Assistant for two different Professors at University of Nevada, Reno, assisting in preparation of course materials, proctoring exams, grading papers, recording grades and so on.

Additionally, I have worked in different financial institutions, in my native country, Nepal after my undergraduate, where I was able to gain first-hand experience in cash handling, customer service and everyday problem solving. My working experiences have furnished my communication skills, leadership skills and time management skills which would be very advantageous for my doctorate degree. In pursuance of Ph. D. in Personal Financial Planning, I am interested in learning about contemporary financial theory behind every financial decision an individual or a family takes. Each individual has different personality trait which directly affect their decision-making process. I would like to analyze different areas like cash flow management, risk management, investment and tax planning, retirement planning and estate planning. I want to explore how individual decision differ: is it just the personality trait or other factors like time pressure, financial environment, country’s economy and so on? Sometimes there is not only a single factor but combination of different factors that might lead individual to make decision. I am interested in research focused on personality trait and its implication on financial behavior and financial satisfaction, retirement planning, policy and practices in developed and developing countries and psychological biases in an individual behavior. Nevertheless, I am open to variety of research.

I believe Texas Tech University (TTU) could contribute immensely in achieving my career in the research and teaching. TTU being the first university in the USA to offer Ph. D. in Personal Financial Planning with an excellent academic reputation, will provide me an opportunity to work with accomplished faculty. Furthermore, I am impressed with the practical approach used in teaching and research which I think would be very helpful in refining my theoretical knowledge. I am confident that I could succeed in Ph. D. program with my hard work, passion and dedication.