1) Most employer retirement plans offered today are define contribution plan . The most popular savings vehicle for defined contribution plans are 401(k)s. The most popular options for investing in 401(k)s are via mutual funds.

Assume you decide to participate in the employer-sponsored plan.

What factors would you consider when choosing funds for your retirement plan ? Explore the following website: 401k.comLinks to an external site.

Especially view the following links on the site:1) Start today, 2) Challenge Yourself, 3) Savings and Spending Check-up and 4) Contribution Calculator,

What insight did you gain from exploring any of the above ?

For the following, use the Contribution CalculatorLinks to an external site.

Take your gross salary that was obtained in Discussion # 2 . Using the salary, set the default contribution to 3%, company matches to 3%, and Years Invested to the time difference of your current age and age 67 . (If you are 22 or younger, use 45 as years invested.) Select the Rate of Return as 7%. What happens to your retirement funding if you increase your contribution level to 6% and then to 12% ?

What is the difference in the value of your retirement funds from a contribution of 3% to 12% ?

Do you think it would be a major sacrifice in your standard of living to go from a 3% to 12% contribution ?

* Must show all amounts and calculations to the questions above to obtain credit for this portion of the discussion question .

2) As learned above, depending on goals, duration, and savings rates, various amounts can be saved.

However, what is important is the amount that will sustain you throughout your retirement.

What sources of income do you plan to have in retirement ?

What is your understanding of these sources ?

Per social security purposes, explain what are spousal and disability benefits.

Describe how a divorce or becoming a widow impact one's entitled benefits See: SSA: Spousal

( A persistent refrain of students is the doubt that there will be social security once they retire. This is incorrect. Please read this article regarding myths surrounding social security : SS Myths