Financial Decision-Making: Principles, Applications, and Cases

An introductory finance textbook that teaches personal, corporate, and investment decisions from one set of first principles.

How much should I save for retirement? Should this company launch a new product? Is this stock worth its price? These questions look like they belong to three different subjects, and most introductory textbooks treat them that way. But this innovative introduction to finance shows that personal, corporate, and investment decisions come down to the same handful of principles. Drawing on more than two decades of teaching at Wharton, Michael Roberts develops each idea in context, working through real companies and live data, and returning to the core concepts often enough that they stick. Featuring hundreds of examples, frequent understanding checks, and extensive end-of-chapter problems, Financial Decision-Making is an essential learn-by-doing guide to practicing finance in our personal and professional lives.

• Is organized by decision type rather than finance topic
• Illustrates the thought process for tackling financial questions in varied contexts
• Emphasizes relatable, practical applications throughout
• Suits undergraduates, MBAs, executives, and general readers
• Offers instructor resources including solutions, case studies, and slides