Scheduling Personal Finances via Integer Programming

Personal financial planning is the preparation of a series of ongoing target‐oriented decisions concerning personal assets, incomes and expenses. An important task of personal financial planning is the generation of a financial schedule defining suitable times for realization of the expenses and incomes at a given point of time. We describe an integer programming model and algorithms for scheduling personal finances via the examination of a linear combination of the weighted objectives to be maximized. Solving the integer programming problem provides an optimal financial schedule which reflects an individual’s goals and preferences. We describe a worst‐case scenario for a personal financial schedule with respect to possible variation of credit and interest rates. Computational results demonstrate the largest problems that are solvable via the algorithm based on schedule enumeration which is needed for a stability analysis.