Can you please check to see if I used citations correctly and the my sources page is correct in my written paper? Strayer University Writing Standards are supposed to be used.

Investing in My Future:

Finance is exciting! In this course, we learned how money can grow through the use of compounding and interest rates and your growth strategies may now be different. What are your new financial goals? Would you like to become more liquid, to save more for your retirement, or to start a new business? Whatever your goals, finance is right at the core.

Three (3) Ways I will Invest in My Future

The first way that I will invest in my financial future is to utilize a financial advisor from Edward Jones (edwardjones.com).As a result of taking this class FIN100 Introduction to Finance I decided to seek expert financial advice.I am eligible for retirement from the Federal Government in 2027 and I want to make sure that I am on track to be able to do so comfortably. In this course I learned about the time Value of Money and how if I invest the money that I have today it can grow over a period of time (Melicher, Norton, 1, p. 220).My advisor and I discussed my financial goals and what I need to do to prepare for my retirement, we decided that for now we are going to take a less conservative approach with my investments, as I learned in class it is a Risk Versus Return approach which is the uncertainty about the payoff outcome of an investment (Melicher, Norton, 1, pg. 8). In this class I also learned about Diversification of Risk which means that risk can be removed or diversified by investing in several different assets or securities (Melicher, Norton, 1, pg. 8). I will be investing in bonds, mutual funds and of course the stock market, I want to try to make as much money as I can but I want to be smart about it.I will also have a certain amount of money allocated monthly to my investment accounts.

The second way that I will invest in my financial future will be contributing to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is a retirement savings plan similar to 401(k) plans that is available to Federal Government employees (TSP.gov, 2).The TSP is a defined contribution plan which means the retirement income that I receive from my TSP account will depend on how much my agency and myself contributes to it.My agency will automatically contribute an amount equal to 1% of my basic pay each pay period, and when I contribute 5% of my basic pay, which is pre-taxed, they will contribute 4% of my basic pay to my TSP account for a total agency contribution of 5%. There is an employee contribution limit that is set each year and I ensure that I contribute that amount.I can also change investment levels or change how my ongoing investments are allocated among the TSP funds.TSP offers two investments funds which are Life Cycle Funds that include a mix of stocks, bonds, and government securities; and, Individual Funds which is a mix of individual TSP funds that you can choose to invest in (TSP.gov, 3).During the 2007 - 2008 Financial Crisis and the Great Recession of 2008 - 2009 (Melicher, Norton, 1, pg. 22-23), which caused a huge economic downfall and had very negative effects on the Stock Market I changed all of my investments into less risky government securities funds.I learned from my financial advisor that I should have moved my funds in to more risky funds after the crisis was over, that I could have made a lot of money in my TSP if I would have done that.I have since changed my allocations.

The third way that I will invest in my future is that I will have a certain amount of money allocated from my paycheck and directly deposited into my savings account every pay day.This will help me fulfill a goal of setting aside an emergency money fund.Ultimately, I would like to save six months of my salary to have in case something happens with me or my job.Currently I have a Share Savings Account at the Navy Federal Credit Union that has an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 0.25% compounded monthly (navyfederal.org, 3).After reading about Money Market Accounts in this course (Melicher, Norton, 1, pg. 36), I have decided to start saving my money in a Money Market Savings Account that earns 0.80% APR (navyfederal.org, 3), that is compounded monthly so I will be able to earn a higher return on my savings investment which demonstrates the present and future value of money. The present value is the value today of my savings and the future value is the value after a specified amount of time due in this case to compounded interest (Melicher, Norton, 1, pg. 220).I learned a lot about the Time Value of Money in this class, which means that money can increase, or grow, over time if we can save it and earn a return on our savings (Melicher, Norton, 1, pg. 220).

My Confidence Concerning Investing in My Future

Of the three ways that I will invest in my future I feel most confident with working with my financial advisor and diversifying my investments.She is an expert in the financial field and I feel confident that she will keep a close eye on my investments and make necessary changes as needed to provide me with the most profitable earnings on my investments.

Challenges With Investing in My Future

Of the three ways that I will invest in my future I perceive that keeping the money that I save and put in to my personal savings account the most difficult.Unlike investing it with Edward Jones or my TSP, I will have direct control and access to my money.I will need to fight the urge to use it whenever I want to.

Conclusion

I learned a lot by taking FIN 100 Introduction to Finance, it really brought to my attention the financial world around me and how what happens in it not only affects the economy but me personally.I now have a much better understanding of investments that will help me manage my financial resources and make educated decisions for managing my money.I feel much better about my financial future.

Sources

1.Ronald W.Melicher, Edgar A. Norton (2017).Introduction to Finance (16^th ed.).Hoboken,

NJ:John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

2. https://www.tsp.gov.Plan.Participation/AboutTheTSP/index.html

3. https://www.tsp.gov.PDF/formspubs/tspbk08.pdf

4. https://www.navyfederal.org