Latest revision as of 05:12, 2 September 2013

Do you have questions for Erin Robertson, our guest speaker?

Write them below.

Note: Please read this page on "how to address speakers" before posting your questions.

• Ms. Robertson, Due to the talks of the social security fund possibly being exhausted before the time we all intend to retire and the current state of the economy, should we start putting away more money sooner to compensate for this? - Matthew Plankey
• Ms. Robertson, I have always been told that I should get a credit card so that I can build up good credit. How important is good credit, and when should I get started? - Justin Huffaker
• Ms. Robertson, approximately how many additional years of salary should be saved up before retiring, i.e. how does one estimate how many more years one may need to take care of oneself after one is finished working?
• Ms. Robertson, a lot of us are planning on graduating and going into industry at the end of this semester. What percentage of our money should we put back in savings, re-invest, and keep in order to enjoy the benefits of a paycheck while we are still young, but also have enough funds saved up for further down the road? Also, what would you say is the average that a person's paycheck increases from when they first enter the workforce compared to when they retire? - Cody Cusic
• Ms. Robertson, how big of a role should inflation and predicted inflation change play on our savings? -Derek Hancock
• Ms. Robertson, there are a lot of different ways to save for retirement. I've heard several different suggestions from several different people on the "best" way to save for retirement, but those suggestions almost always come from personal opinions, from what I can tell. I understand it's different for each person, but do you have a preferred way, or group of ways, that you tend to recommend? - Spencer Julian
• Ms. Robertson, I'm no expert in financial matters, but I do understand the importance of time value of money. I do not think you can emphasize enough the importance of this concept. So, please make sure this idea is thoroughly covered in your discussion. When we get our first job, all kinds of goodies will tempt us, but being engineers, we can figure out how to spend and save! Katie Kitamura
• Ms. Robertson, what are the financial actions we should take that we normally would not think of, but later on wish we did? - Joseph May
• Ms. Robertson, what sort of assets would you recommend investing in when saving for retirement? - Brian Kelley
• Ms. Robertson, Throught this course we have been recomended by several presenter that if stock options are availble it is a good idea to take them. If stock options are not avalible what are your opinion of entering the stockmarket once one starts that first job. Also, do you recomend holding stock in the company that one works for? - Evan Binkerd
• Ms. Robertson, how has the current economy affected the financial standings of recent graduates, and also of planning for retirement?--Timothy Scheidler
• Ms. Robertson, I assume a lot of us are going to come out of college with at least some student loans, what are some good tips for balancing loan payback plus everything else e.g. bills, savings, investments, retirement, etc. - Jordan Ramer
• Ms. Robertson, when first out of school, is it better to invest in the company employing you or in the stock market? - Stephen Zabrecky
• Ms. Robertson, would you recommend that Co-Op students invest the maximum allowable amount in a 401k plan if they have intentions of hiring full-time after graduation? - Michael Evans
• Ms. Robertson, does the current economic climate change how we should invest for the future, and if so to what degree? - Daniel Sabo
• Ms. Robertson, is there any class that you wanted to take in college that you were unable to for one reason or another and how did that affect you? Also what are your opinions on getting an MBA after joining the workforce for a time as opposed to going in directly after graduation? - Keegan McGraw
• Ms. Robertson, as a soon to be graduate, everything seems to be falling into place, I am getting married in late June, graduating in may, starting my job four days later and buying a house two weeks before the wedding, I know this is a lot to balance, is there anything I should be careful of financially, or is buying a home right out of college a reasonable course of action given today's real estate market? - Michael Piercy
• Ms. Robertson, do you recommend that people should save for retirement while also trying to pay off loans, or should they get out of debt before trying to save? -Craig Lechlitner
• Ms. Robertson, nowadays there is a new research direction that is Financial Engineering. What do you think about Financial engineering and how engineering and financial bonds with each other? -Yi Tian
• Ms. Robertson, when contributing to one's 401k, there are several options (pre-tax, post-tax, and IRA contributions) and I have heard positive and negative arguments for each type. Do you have any strong opinions about which is the best option for a young employee? - Andrew Batek
• Ms. Robertson, what are other investment people would do to prepare for their retirement other than 401K? - Zhi Wang
• Ms. Robertson, after graduating and obtaining an electrical engineering position, what sort of housing mortgage would be advisable on a starting salary? - Daniel Hudepohl
• Ms. Robertson, considering the current state of the economy and housing market, do you have any advice regarding renting or buying houses for graduate students and newly hired students? -Will McGrath
• Ms. Robertson, when saving for retirement, is there a general rule of thumb for dividing up your savings among savings, bonds, mutual funds, stock, or other investments? -Zachary Smith
• Ms Robertson, how has the economic recession affected the economic priorities of recent graduates? - Nick Kwolek
• Ms Robertson, what influenced your decision to pursue your Ms Business Administration especiallly considering you got your Bachelors in Psychology? -Calvin Mwesigwa
• Ms. Robertson, exactly how does one decide how much money to save before retiring and if its determined according to a future plan what happens when people change their plans after they retire. -Berke Karakus
• Ms. Robertson, I understand that it is very important to start saving early for retirement. That said, how would you balance that with buying a house versus renting or buying a nice car that requires less gas and maintenance? - Thomas Winget
• Ms. Robertson, It's a little difficult for students to build their credits while they are in college. Do you have any suggestion or recommandation for students to effectivly build good credits? - Hyung Soo Cho
• Ms. Robertson, with retirement plans being extremely important in today's economy, what kinds of items should we be looking for at before making a decision on what style of retirement plan to take? - Taylor Strzelecki
• Ms. Robertson, When should I begin planning for retirement? - Omar Al Ameri
• Ms. Robertson, when choosing which funds to spread your 401k into, what are your recommendations for the type of investments? I have heard young professionals should have a higher percentage of higher risk funds than later in life, does this have merit? - Derek Richards
• Ms. Robertson, how have your overall goals of retirement (age, financial condition, etc.) changed as you've progressed throughout your career and gotten wiser? - Shicheng Guo
• Ms. Robertson, if someone were in need of money while in school and they had a ROTH IRA, would you recommend taking money out of the IRA or taking out a loan? - Alex Layton
• Ms. Robertson, when saving for retirement, what should an individual's investment portfolio focus on more in order to remain relatively safe during a stock market crash? - Rick Schuman
• Ms. Robertson, when it comes to Stock Options, is it better to keep these as part of your investment portfolio or sell them and use the money to invest elsewhere since you are already leveraged enough by the salary you receive from your employing company? - Jonathon Sowers
• Ms. Robertson, what should a new hire to an industry be asking his/her employer for in regards to 401k and other options similar to that? Mike Kobit
• Ms. Robertson, do you feel that retirement benefits are often overlooked when choosing a job? - Yang Zhou

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