Last week you learned about how much money you might need in retirement and how your savings will get you there. Most of us will need to invest the money to beat inflation and thats why this weeks discussions about stocks, bonds, and mutual funds are so useful when planning for retirement.

Most retirement accounts offer mutual funds, index funds, or exchange-traded funds. You need an understanding of how stocks, bonds, and other investments work so you can make the choices consistent with the level of risk you are comfortable with. If you have a retirement account, how is the money invested? How did you choose where to invest your money, or how might you if you start a retirement account in the future? How did you, or how might you, determine how much risk you were willing to accept? What would help you become more comfortable with investing risks?

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

• Which concepts from Ch. 11, Ch. 12, and Ch. 13 will be most important to your finances? Why are these relevant to you and how might you apply them to your life?
• How will you invest your retirement savings (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, other)? Why did you choose the options you have? How does your investment plan address risk?
• If you were comparing different mutual funds or stocks to decide which to invest in, how would you make that decision? What metrics or performance measures would be most important to you? Why?
• Everyday Economics And Finances