In this activity, students will explore financial planning. They will consider the money they could have in retirement, as well as understand how much of their nest egg can be taken away by investment fees.

This might sound like a strange topic for high school students, but it is never too soon to plan for retirement!

Retirement income can come from many different sources: a pension plan, a 401K or similar plan, IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts), USA’s Social Security or the Canada Pension Plan (other countries have plans similar government-managed plans). But company-sponsored pension plans can be risky (see Enron), and government  plans are usually not sufficient to live on comfortably.

Your personal planning and saving can assure you a secure and rewarding retirement. It’s never too soon (or too late) to start saving for retirement. But sooner is better because you will tap ‘the power of compounding’ as you will see in this activity.