a little business education mixed with a little beefcake

[down_to_business]

http://shine.yahoo.com/dailyshot/stocks-and-bods-174440774.html;_ylt=Au_OQf9uIZYTel3AJNhCCrWiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTN1ZjM1NGc1BG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIE1lZ2F0cm9uIDIEcGtnAzA5YjExNGE5LTZmODItM2Q5Zi1iYzUyLTU3Nzc5ZTM3Njc3OQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbWVnYXRyb24EdmVyA2NiZWYwZjMzLWFlYmQtMTFlMi1iZmViLWY0ZDNhOTY4YTYyOA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFkcW51ZGliBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3

[+ FreshFluff]

The pictures are nice, but I wonder what this summary can do for someone who knows nothing about finance. I would have explained the tradeoff between risk and return, passive vs. active investing, ideal portfolio composition by age, and the problems with trying to time the market. Then, I'd give a beginner's guide to index funds and options for those who want to stay out of the equity markets.

[Frequentflier]

The pictures are nice, but I wonder what this summary can do for someone who knows nothing about finance. I would have explained the tradeoff between risk and return, passive vs. active investing, ideal portfolio composition by age, and the problems with trying to time the market. Then, I'd give a beginner's guide to index funds and options for those who want to stay out of the equity markets.

 

I think you are spot on here. I wish they would make the topics you listed mandatory, along with having a certain number of months savings for emergencies and overall the value and necessity of saving for retirement starting from the first day of work, for high school students (not everyone goes to college so high school seems a good place). So many working people have never been taught the basics and find themselves in their 50's too short of retirements assets. Too many retirees today, and unless something changes in the future still, dependent solely or nearly so on Social Security. Some but certainly not all employers let their vendors like Vanguard, Schwab, etc. come in for nothing and hold seminars for a few hours with employees. Probably most guys on this board know, but most people don't, the advantage of compounding and even saving a small amount starting at a young age and how continuing to do so can make just about anybody at least worth a million at 65 and probably several (with little risk following what FleshFluff suggests).