The Financial Industry : An Important Aspect Of A Successful Retirement

This course provides an overview of the elements necessary for effective personal financial planning and the opportunity to apply the techniques and strategies essential to this understanding. Primary areas of study include creating and managing a personal budget, understanding and paying taxes, working with financial institutions, wise use of credit cards and consumer loans, financing automobiles and homes, and the use of insurance for protecting one’s family and property.

Additional research shows that senior financial literacy education programs can be effective in producing positive outcomes. Realizing it will take “years, if not decades,” to change the behavior of seniors, Canadian researchers and government officials are collecting evidence to measure the progress of their senior financial literacy and exploitation programs across the nation (CFAC, 2014). Devices to measure short, medium and long term goals include financial capability surveys and administrative data on scam reporting (CFAC, 2014). The Canadian researchers concluded that “educational workshops in which seniors and their adult children participate offer strong potential heighten awareness of both parties and … build knowledge of what

Envision feeling cold, starved, petrified, and alone, just getting home to find an eviction notice, perhaps a letter of foreclosure hanging from the door. As the room goes grey and begins to spin, four words begin to echo in the background, “Is this really happening?” All resources are exhausted and Social Security proves ineffective. Fear has taken over. Thoughts of life in a shelter cloud the room. The bills are piling high, as bank accounts begin to dwindle. Unfortunately, this is the harsh certainty of many people in the aging community. Retirement is a critical life event that everyone has to undergo, through being unprepared, many fall victim to poverty in old age. Individuals should utilize Individual Retirement Accounts,

Future initiatives with financial education can change the landscape of an individual’s life and the economy in which we live. If there is limited focus on learning about personal finances we continue to set our economy up for constant failure. There is a substantial amounts of education provided to school age children that does not directly impact their financial education for their future. In high school individuals learn

I believe the most pressing issue facing the aging population on a daily basis is financial security while living on a fixed income. Aging individuals’ sources of income include Social Security, employment, private pensions, and assets. The median household income for those 65 and older in 2007 was only $27, 798 (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). I chose financial security as the most pressing issue facing the older population because it influences several other areas. Sources of income for the aging population are sometimes insufficient to maintain proper housing, may cause health problems, and restricts access to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The difficulty that the lack of financial security can pose for an aging individual leads

My introduction to the world of personal financial planning began in the summer of 2012 when I enrolled in a Personal Financial Management course at The University of Texas at Dallas. Prior to this course, personal finance was a topic that I had always taken a deep-rooted

Overall, there is a notable mismatch among college-educated Millennials between their perceived and demonstrated levels of financial literacy, with the form exceeding the latter. They also have less financial knowledge than might be expected given their educational attainment. On the other hand, given that only 29 percent have received financial education through school or work, perhaps low financial literacy is to be expected. This indicates a need for increased financial education, as improved financial literacy would mean more informed financial decision making. (p. 18)

In more detail, much of their savings are tied up towards retirement due to the serious financial crisis of 2008, which means they lack of sufficient retirement funds, even basic living expenses. According to the research of Boomer Expectation for Retirement 2016, which is from the Insured Retirement Institute, illustrates that 25 % of boomers have no retirement savings and 76 percent of baby boomer generation are unconfident about whether their savings can last through retirement (Insured Retirement Institute, 2016). This appears to suggest that boomers might not be prepared for their retirement plan and that they have never tried to figure out how much they will need for retirement. Moreover, they are concerned about not being able to maintain their standard of living. For example, according to a newspaper report from Star Tribune, Judy Davis, 57, of St. Paul, who works for a nonprofit agency, discusses her difficulty of retirement, “If I had to retire I would be broke pretty soon. I could probably survive six months to a year” (Read, 2015). With this in mind, it proves that Davis still works for a nonprofit agency because she does not have any preparation for her retirement or enough money to last through her old age. Furthermore, the lack of retirement savings will reduce their standard of living. Therefore, baby boomers experience significant financial stress because of

Even retirees who are careful about for their futures can’t account for everything. Unexpected life events such as deaths, life-threatening illnesses, and accidents occur. When this happens, what we often see is retirees ceasing to contribute to their accounts, or borrowing against their retirement due to costs associated with these unforeseen events. According to the HSBC, 27 percent who face these struggles say they would dip into their accounts, 13 percent were prevented from working due to accident or illness, and 6 percent ceased working to care for a spouse, therefore unable to afford monthly contributions.

Those born with a silver spoon in their mouth are destined to be wealthy. Not only because they come from old money, but because those who come from old money teach their kids about money. Although economics and finances have recently been added to the curriculum of American schools, there is only so much that can be learned from a book. This kind of knowledge is gained mainly through life-experiences and there are many people who believe it is the parent’s job to make sure their children are prepared to deal with finances in the future. Many people who are not of old money are financially illiterate; they have little to no education about finances. They may know how to make money, however, they probably have no idea how to keep their money. Therefore, they have no idea how to teach their children how to keep money. For this reason, a large portion of the population is focused on get-rich-quick schemes hoping to “make it big” or “strike it rich”.

Retirement? Try asking the people, now, in their mid sixties about that nightmare. “ There was a time when most middle-class Americans could work until they were 65 and then look forward to a financially secure retirement,” (Eskow). As for most individuals, in order to retire, a person must have been working. For most, a job would require going to college; a satisfying job would require a more advanced education. A more advanced education would call for longer payment of student loans. “Education for every American that wants to get ahead? Forget about it.,” (Eskow). With the rising need for education, of course, the price will also rise, and has been rising. Retirement comes into play with the people that were born into money, who have

Suze Orman’s The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, & Broke stands as an in-depth guide to the financially struggling, younger generation in today’s prospering yet wallet-emptying economy. Through 300 pages of detailed advice and explanations, Orman shares her expertise. She is the author of New York Times bestsellers and national bestsellers including The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, The Road to Wealth, and Suze Orman's Financial Guidebook and the host of her award-winning CNBC-TV show, The Suze Orman Show. The start of her big financial career began early: she was an Account Executive at Merrill Lynch from 1980-83, served as Vice President of Investments for Prudential Bache Securities from 1983-87, and directed the Suze Orman Financial

“My parents introduced me to financial stewardship at a very early age. At the age of 12, I was working in youth programs, changing lives in Philadelphia’s inner city.”

Life of an immigrant is not easy, let alone navigating through a plethora of obscure banking concepts and products. It is even more overwhelming for an older generation, in a foreign language. Working in the financial services I realized that I could make newcomers’ lives easier by sharing my expertise and knowledge of the industry. For over a year, I delivered financial literacy seminars, in a simple, jargon-free language, to the members of the Russian speaking community. The topics included basics of banking, importance of saving, and understanding credit history. Not only did I feel proud of my contribution to the community, my workshops helped the newcomers avoid some of the common pitfalls; it taught them to be responsible with money and

With the workforce in America decreasing due to hard economic times, there is no guarantee the money put into the reserve will sufficiently support a generation when it is time for retirement. Depending on Social Security to support a person financially when ready to retire, will leave that individual in even more of a struggle than the beneficiaries trying to survive in these earlier years of the 21 century. Social Security benefits represent about 41% of the income of the elderly; if there is not enough to support even half of the elderly’s financial needs now, there is no reason a younger person should depend on it alone for retirement (Dewitt, 2010) in the future.