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As my Education Technology final project in Georgia Tech's Interactive Intelligence, Comp Sci Masters program; I've continued work on this course over the last year, to explore strategies of investing in Stocks, Mutual Funds, and ETF's on the stock market. Here's a preview.
Retirement Planning with the Best of them
College debt, rising rental rates, credit card debt, and an aversion to trading on the stock market since the 2008 recession, have caused citizens in developed countries to decrease their savings and investing for retirement. Americans in particular delay investing, thinking it is too early to start, and are ill-informed of how to safely invest.
Over a 3rd of Americans have no money for retirement. For many, the reason is that they cannot afford to invest; additionally, 11% think it is too risky, and 7% do not trust advisers and brokers (Shekhtman, 2016). PNC Financial Services confirmed in a study that the previously mentioned credit card and tuition debt create a setback to preparing for retirement.
The problem is related to unfamiliarity with common retirement tools like freely offered, employer-sponsored retirement accounts and accounts available at investment banks; and lack of knowledge specific to investing in stocks using the brands we love and support for the long term.
A solution is necessary because any increase in the number of people preparing for their retirement future will decrease the number of retirees that depend on part-time jobs, and are forced to work after reaching retirement age. Social Security (SS) and pension benefits have an uncertain future in America and within the European Union (E.U.) with government-run pension systems seeing costs exceeding total income worldwide.
In the U.S., the phenomenon is projected to occur by 2020 (SSA Report, 2016). Additionally, private pension plans are not immune - corporations can rise and fall, taking everyone's savings with them - in Enron’s case a significant portion of the plan's investments were in Enron stock (Appleby 2016).
Even if the SS program survived, it’s objective is only to provide a basic minimum standard of living in old age. If there are any unforeseen medical costs, a common occurrence in old age or unexpected disasters, retirees should be flexible to those changes (Elmerraji, 2017).
Finally, as a software engineer in a company that provides investment software to investment banks, I felt I could leverage access to that knowledge to help this community.
References:
Appleby, D. (2016). Business Owners: Avoid Enron-Esque Retirement Plans. [online] Investopedia.
Elmerraji, J. (2017). Retirement Planning: Why Plan For Retirement?. [online] Investopedia.
Shekhtman, L. (2016). Why so few millennials invest in the stock market. [online] Business Insider.
Course:
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